The European Union bill that seeks to regulate cryptocurrencies could lead to crypto influencers being charged with market manipulation if they fail to disclose potential conflicts of interest.
The Crypto Asset Markets Bill (MiCA)which was approved by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament on October 10, it is expected to be legislated after a few more obstacles.
Patrick Hansen, director of strategy and EU policy at stablecoin issuer Circle, has closely followed the passage of the bill and drew attention to a section in a November 1 tweet that made reference to public comments made without proper disclosure.
Crypto influencers beware: Commenting on crypto assets in (social) media without disclosure and profiting from the effects of that will be considered market manipulation in the EU once MiCA is in force.@zachxbt pic.twitter.com/BflVXPazjS
— Patrick Hansen (@paddi_hansen) November 1, 2022
Crypto influencers beware: Commenting on crypto assets on (social) media without clarification and profiting from the effects of that will be considered market manipulation in the EU once MiCA is in place.@zachxbt
The section highlighted by Hansen says that opining on crypto assets after taking positions on them and failing to effectively disclose that conflict of interest could be considered market manipulation.
The section is part of measures included in the MiCA bill, which aims to “prevent insider trading, illegal insider trading and market manipulation related to crypto assets, in order to ensure the integrity of the crypto markets.”
The passage has sparked some interest in the cryptocurrency community., and a related post on Reddit’s cryptocurrency subreddit suggests the community supports it; The main comment of the thread says:
“They promote certain projects and never take responsibility for the losses they inflict on people. It’s about time those influencers got what they deserved.”
Although it is unlikely that the MiCA will be fully applicable until 2024, it seems very likely that it will be approvedas Hansen even referred to it as a “pure formality” after the completion of the text on October 5.
7/ Afterward, the final texts will be voted once more – a pure formality at this point – in the Parliament’s ECON committee, the Council, and finally in the Parliament’s plenary.
Based on similar financial legislation, this could happen between Dec 22 – Jan 23.
— Patrick Hansen (@paddi_hansen) August 6, 2022
7/ Afterwards, the final texts will be voted on once more – a pure formality at the moment – in Parliament’s ECON committee, in the Council and, finally, in Parliament’s plenary. Based on similar financial legislation, this could happen between December 22 and January 23.
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