picture released, Getty Images
A post appeared on Kardashian’s Instagram account that suggested the head of the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK had an advertisement for cryptocurrencies
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian has faced criticism from the head of Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority for promoting an untested cryptocurrency on social networking site Instagram.
The authority’s chairman, Charles Randall, said that Kim “asked his 250 million followers to trade cryptocurrencies” through an announcement on his Ethereum Max account.
Randall described the coin he says Kardashian is promoting as “a circulating digital currency launched by unknown developers a month ago.”
Britain’s top financial official also accused social media influencers of promoting the “get rich-quick illusion”.
This statement came when Randall spoke at the Cambridge International Cybercrime Forum.
The head of the British regulator said the post Kardashian posted on her Instagram account, which she noted was classified as an advertisement, indicated it was “directed to the largest audience in history”. promoting a financial product.”
Randall stressed that the Ethereum Max coin, promoted by Kardashian’s Instagram account, is not the well-known cryptocurrency Ethereum.
But when he said, “I cannot determine whether this cryptocurrency (Ethereum Max) is a scam or not.”
“But social media influencers are paid by scammers from time to time to help them launch new tradable cryptocurrencies. Some influencers even promote these types of currencies that don’t exist at all,” Randall said.
The BBC has reached out to Ethereum Max and the Kardashians for comment on the FCA chief’s comments.
Randall said that 2.3 million Britons hold cryptocurrencies, of whom 14% use credit cards to purchase them, “which increases the risk of loss,” he said.
He stressed that the British Financial Conduct Authority has on several occasions warned against buying “traded cryptocurrencies” whose trading is not regulated by FCA regulations or covered by any compensation scheme.
And the head of the commission warned: “If you buy it, you should be prepared to lose all your money.”
Randall said the possibility of imposing controls to promote this type of asset has been discussed to combat consumer misconceptions that their money is safe – and the “nonstop deceptive advertising strategy of some crypto companies.”
