Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown criticized the crypto advertisements that were aired during the Super Bowl. He said that the ads did not address the risks involved with investing in cryptocurrencies, such as volatility and fraud.
The head of the United States Congress banking committee, Sherrod Brown, lambasted the multiple crypto ads that played to over 110 million viewers during the recent Super Bowl. The Senate Banking Chairman said that they did not address the risks involved in investing in cryptocurrencies, saying that they “left a few things out.”
Crypto ads under fire
Senator Brown made the remarks at a hearing on Feb 15 and called out the crypto companies for not speaking of the volatility of the market, as well as the potential for fraud and theft. He has talked about these concerns before and is not the only U.S. lawmaker to feel this way.
The Super Bowl saw multiple crypto ads aired, including from Coinbase and FTX. Millions of dollars were spent for the brief segments of air time, and it was successful enough that Coinbase had to throttle traffic to the platform. The exchange’s ad had a QR code that took people to the platform, telling them that new users would receive $15 in BTC after registration.
Crypto advertising has proven to be a point of contention for countries across the world. Ireland’s advertising authority was the latest to join this throng, investing crypto ads after having received multiple complaints. With crypto growing more popular than ever, more such remarks and investigations are likely.
US lawmakers have several regulatory tasks ahead of them
The U.S. Senate is reviewing several aspects of the crypto market, especially stablecoins. In December 2021, the Senate Banking Committee sought additional info on stablecoins, not long after Democratic senators asked Meta to discontinue its Diem project.
Meta complied with that order and cited regulatory issues as one of the main reasons it wanted to sell Diem. Stablecoins are perceived as a threat to national currencies.
Crypto executives have said that heavy-handed regulation would have consequences, asking for tailored regulation that will help the economy. Many in the market believe that the U.S. is behind when it comes to crypto, including former OCC head Brian Brooks.
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Source: https://beincrypto.com/senate-banking-chairman-calls-out-super-bowl-crypto-ads-for-not-addressing-risks/