The Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland has called on MPs to ban cryptocurrency advertising aimed at young people, according to Reuters. January 25th.
Ireland’s central bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf said a “significant number” of young people are investing their money in cryptocurrencies. He added that there is an “uncomfortable” amount of advertising targeting young people.
Makhlouf clearly advocated for the ban before an Irish parliamentary committee, stating:
“If we can find a way, advertising [the young adult] Cohorts are prohibited. ”
He described most cryptocurrencies as Ponzi schemes because other assets do not back many tokens. He said that investments usually lead to losses.
He also warned that upcoming EU legislation on fiat-backed stablecoins would not solve the problem. Reuters hinted that Mahlouf was referring to MiCA regulations, which include rules for stablecoin issuers.
The Bank of Ireland and its officials have issued similar warnings before. Mahlouf has warned Bitcoin investors that they may suffer losses on their Bitcoin investments in 2021. The bank also issued another warning on investing in cryptocurrencies in March 2022. This included a warning about misleading cryptocurrency advertising. Countries have issued variations of these warnings dating back to at least 2018.
Despite many warnings to consumers, Ireland has taken a somewhat tolerant stance toward cryptocurrency companies. Gemini and Binance are among the companies that have received regulatory approval to operate in the country in recent years.
