A major financial regulator in Spain has issued a warning about soccer star Andrés Iniesta for promoting major cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Iniesta, a prolific midfielder who has played for Barcelona and the Spanish national team, promoted Binance on his social media profiles on Instagram and Twitter.
On Wednesday, Iniesta posted several photos of him next to a laptop displaying the Binance website on the screen, as well as holding a smartphone that reflected several of the major cryptocurrency markets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Binance Coin (BNB).
Hello,@ andresiniesta8, crypto assets, being unregulated products, have some relevant risks. It is advisable to read the statement from@CNMV_MEDIOS of 9/2/2021 https://t.co/SWRF73xEJj and inform yourself thoroughly before investing in them or recommending others to do so
– CNMV (@CNMV_MEDIOS) November 24, 2021
As of this writing, Iniesta has more than 38 million subscribers on Instagram and more than 25 million followers on Twitter. The Instagram post had amassed more than 270,000 likes, as of press time.
Spain’s stock market regulator, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), took to Twitter about 12 hours after Iniesta posted the post to warn the player about the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies.
Citing its regulatory statement of February 2021, the CNMV stressed that investors must be duly informed about cryptocurrencies and their risks before investing and providing financial advice. “Hello Andrés Iniesta, crypto assets carry some significant risks because they are unregulated products,” the CNMV wrote.
The question is whether Iniesta was offered an advance for promoting Binance. Cointelegraph has reached out to the soccer player through contacts on Iniesta’s official website and will update this story pending further information.
The news comes as Binance continues its efforts to improve relations with global regulators, as the firm has been vetted by various governments this year, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Germany. and others.
Some Spanish banks cut support for Binance earlier this year. In July, the branch of Spanish bank Santander in the UK said it will no longer allow its customers to send payments to Binance, citing warnings from the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
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