A bill, brought by two socialist deputies, intends to ban the promotion of cryptocurrencies by influencers. It will be considered in early February by the National Assembly.
A bill, which mentions flagship reality shows Loft Story and Star Academy, likely hasn’t gone unnoticed by crypto-influencers. This proposal “which aims to combat the excesses of influencers on social networks” was registered at the end of December in the National Assembly by Arthur Delaporte and Boris Vallaud, deputies of the socialist group. The text intends to regulate the activity of influencers, who constitute a “new form of worker” on social networks.
The latter may be prohibited from posting certain content on various topics, posted for a fee. “Content intended for sale is sometimes more problematic than promoting a simple lipstick,” underlines the text, which mentions cryptocurrencies in particular.
“A strong political message”
In particular, the proposal intends to prohibit the promotion on social networks of “financial investments and digital goods which involve risks of loss for the consumer”. Concretely, crypto-influencers will no longer be able to promote a crypto project posted for a fee. Even showing black and white that a post is sponsored will not be tolerated. They will only be able to mention cryptocurrencies to popularize the ecosystem. Failure to comply with this bill will be punished with a five-year prison sentence and a fine of 375,000 euros.
“There have been a lot of scams, we needed to send a strong political message, we need to stop with dangerous promotions that make consumers lose money,” MP Arthur Delaporte explained to BFM Crypto.
This text has been around for a while, with many “watch groups” warning about scams by some crypto influencers. It is part of a particular context today, with an unprecedented year 2022 for the crypto ecosystem. In fact, many investors suffered significant losses following the collapse of many crypto projects, such as luna or FTT (the crypto of the FTX platform), which had been the subject of numerous promotions. A context that could give weight to this bill.
Examination of the text in early February
Deputy Arthur Delaporte, rapporteur of this bill, will present the text on February 1 to the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Assembly. The text will be voted on by the deputies in the hemicycle on 9 February. According to our information, some changes may be made to this text. If the bill is approved by deputies, it will then be voted on by the Senate. If both sides agree, the text could be promulgated by the end of the year. If that were the case, it would be a major blow to crypto-influencers.
“It’s a bit of panic in the ecosystem because it’s also what allows projects to emerge and make themselves known to the general public. For others, like me, it’s what allows me to offer content,” an actor slips to BFM Crypto.
Is this bill likely to succeed? Brought by the group of socialists, it will be subjected to the scrutiny of the majority, while global reflections have emerged on the activity of influencers. Indeed, the first meetings will take place this month in Bercy, which has just launched a working group on influencers.
In addition, two other bills were presented at the end of the year to regulate the activity of influencers: one led by Nupes deputy Aurélien Taché, the other by Insoumis deputy François Picquemal. If the first bill does not mention cryptocurrencies, François Picquemal’s is very critical of bitcoin.
It was in the 2010s “that cryptocurrencies emerged, with bitcoin as a pioneer, which, through its resounding success, became the subject of increasingly important investments and speculations. It is in this context that the number of scams develops and multiplies online”, we can read.
While the bill is now in the hands of MEPs, where is the procedure in France? “So far the MFA has banned many things but done little, leaving the biggest aberrations on crypto Youtube unpunished,” slips a crypto influencer with more than 50,000 subscribers. After verification, there are still some crypto influencers on social networks promoting dangerous projects. “You can post nuanced content for educational purposes,” she explains. However, not all crypto influencers should be lumped into the same bucket, with some outreach and remaining benevolent towards their community.
AMF should tighten the screw
Even the MFA may soon tighten the screw. In 2021, the Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority (ARPP) had implemented a “certificate of responsible influence”, noting that “more than 1 in 4 content was not transparent about commercial collaboration”. This certificate is expected to be extended during the year 2023. This certificate, which gives influencers some credibility, will not validate the influencers’ content in any way. It will also not allow influencers to sell financial products to their customers.
It is therefore clearly to be differentiated from the MFA certification which allows a finance professional to be able to sell financial products to their customers. Despite the future introduction of such a certificate, it is the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumers and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) which remains competent when it comes to sanctioning influencers in the case of a derivative.
Similarly, article 80 of the European MiCa regulation (for the cryptocurrency market) lists the “behaviours” that will be considered market manipulation as soon as the regulation enters into force, around 2024. Thus, crypto-influencers, who they post numerous messages about cryptocurrencies (or projects related to cryptocurrencies) every day, they seem to be targeted by Europe.