Crypto Ads on UK's Local Transport Get Slammed by Lawmaker
British parliamentarian Sian Berry has questioned the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, about crypto advertisements that have been featuring on the Transport for London (TfL) vehicles. Calling them “unethical”, Berry said these advertisements featuring dog coin Floki Inu should have raised “red flags”. The development comes just days after three advertisements for crypto products were approved to be displayed on the subway and bus stations under Tfl. Posters depicting the crypto coin’s logo were part of the campaign.
“Where the advert says ‘this is completely unregulated, you may lose all your money’, they ought to have had second thoughts. I don’t think cryptocurrency ads should be on the network. They’re unethical,” The Guardian quoted Berry as saying .
The pro-crypto ad campaign was funded by an anonymous group, details of which still remain unknown.
The development has garnered mixed public reactions on Twitter
Transport for London @TfL said it would ensure #crypto ads complied with its policies from now on. “Missed Doge? Get Floki ” posters appeared throughout the city’s travel system, touting the unregulated meme #cryptocoin. https://t.co/bZ9jPTGCwp pic.twitter.com/7Z1eb567Zh
— Share_Talk ™ (@Share_Talk) November 16, 2021
Good work by @sianberry. TfL was running ads for some obviously problematic coins, many of whom use the fact they are advertising on the tube network as evidence of their reputability.https://t.co/Zh8DyHU4Gl
— Martin Calladine (@uglygame) November 16, 2021
Headline is wrong: Transport for London @TfL is not cracking down on crypto ads, they claim the process that puts blatant scams like this in front of the public is already just fine thanks https://t.co/lGrDwk4jGN
— your #1 source for absurdist true crime ???????? ???? (@davidgerard) November 16, 2021
Meanwhile, the crypto culture is rapidly expanding in the UK.
Earlier in September, PayPal allowed its customers in the UK to trade in cryptocurrencies.
News about UK nationals trying to find ways to support cryptocurrency mining via renewable energy sources have also made headlines in the recent past.
The number of cryptocurrency users in the UK has surged by 558 percent since the beginning of 2018 when just three percent of the population — 1.5 million people — owned some, a recent report by research firm Finder had claimed.
With this growth, crypto scams are also growing in the region. .
Analyst firm Chainalysis in a recent report revealed that at least $815 million (roughly Rs. 6,135 crore) was sent in crypto to scam projects from Eastern European countries between July 2020 and June 2021.
