Former SEC branch manager Lisa Braganca warned the public against using certain emojis in promotional materials following a court ruling classifying DapperLabs’ use of emojis as investment advice.
Braganza issued a warning Via Twitter While referring to the recent court ruling against DapperLabs.

Using emojis related to rocket ships, stock charts, and money bags could be classified as investment advice. court judgment Judge Victor Marrero, Feb. 22.
Judgment on emoji lawsuit has filed a lawsuit against Dapper Labs and its CEO Roham Gharegozlou, alleging that they violated securities laws by offering NBA Top Shot Moments.
NBA Top Shot Moments is a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) that captures key highlights and video clips from NBA games.
Plaintiffs accused Dapper Labs of promoting NBA Shot Moments as an investment opportunity through marketing materials with handpicked emojis.
None of the tweets contain the literal word ‘profit’, but the ‘rocket ship’ emoji, the ‘stock chart’ emoji, and the ‘money bag’ emoji are objectively one It means: financial return on investment. Filing said.
The court filing references tweets in which DapperLabs used rocketship, stock market, and money bag emojis to illustrate market performance.
Dapper Labs claims the use of emojis in tweets is intended to provide accuracy in market data and not as a means of driving sales.
However, some members of the cryptocurrency community have argued that emojis can mean different things to different people, and thus rules around their use could hinder free speech.