Japanese YouTuber Receives Warning from the FSA for a Crypto-Related Ad
The crypto exchange Bybit was also the recipient of the warning issued by the Japanese financial watchdog.
Photo: Toru Hanai, Japan Financial Services Agency
A popular Japanese YouTuber has received a warning from the Japanese financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) after he reportedly promoted the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit. According to Tokyo Sports, via Yahoo Japan, Hiraku was not the only one who received the note from the authority as the crypto firm also was cautioned by the FSA.
The basis of the warning against the 30-year-old YouTuber – who has around 4.4 million subscribers – is that he cannot promote a crypto exchange with no permissions to target Japanese residents. The watchdog argues that advertising campaigns must receive a green light from them before going live on any media, including social media or platforms like YouTube. On this occasion, Bybit reportedly doesn’t have such authorization.
Per the report, Hiraku seemed to have committed the infraction after he claimed in one of his videos that he opened an account with the Singapore-based exchange after receiving one Bitcoin (BTC) as part of a birthday gift. “I was asked to do various things on my birthday and received a lot of expensive things, but I wondered if there was such a present among them! It was the virtual currency from Prince Aoju. When I got one bit and thought, ‘Is it only one?’ I was surprised that it was worth 4 million yen. I will try cryptocurrencies for the first time with Bybit,” the YouTuber also said in a tweet.
Previous Warnings against Bybit
Later in May, Finance Magnates reported that FSA had issued a warning letter to a Singapore-based major cryptocurrency exchange alleging that it has been running unlicensed services in the country. The Japanese watchdog says the fifth-largest crypto derivatives exchange by trading volume has not registered before with the local authorities to provide digital asset services.
But this is not the first regulatory-related tussle that Bybit has faced over the years, as the exchange had to suspend operations in the UK because of FCA’s regulations.