Dutch Ministry of Finance starts “Smart in Crypto” campaign

Last Monday, the Dutch Ministry of Finance launched the “Smart in Crypto” marketing campaign. The website and social media videos warn against high expectations and pitfalls when investing in crypto assets.

“When you’re thinking about buying cryptos, make sure that you know the risks, and don’t just focus on the claimed high returns”, said Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag during the campaign announcement. The ministry aims to provide counterpoints against so-called “finfluencers” and crypto ads on TV and social media promising high returns. Recurring themes in the campaign are: only investing what you can afford to lose, knowing what you’re buying and the claim that influencers often make wrong predictions.

At the start of this year, the Dutch Financial Market Authority (AFM) announced that it was looking into the activities of financial influencers. According to the AFM, finfluencers can make knowledge about investing more accessible, but they don’t always abide by regulations, often focus on risky investments and don’t always transparently disclose conflicts of interest. The regulator said it would take further action when finfluencers continued to ignore regulations, but this hasn’t happened as of yet. Although real action has not been undertaken, the rules and regulations around the crypto domain (and its finfluencers) will continue to be tightened over the coming two years when the new MiCA bill is implemented.

The stance being taken by the ministry in this campaign is relatively remarkable, with no restrictions being introduced. Instead, the campaign simply warns of the risks and explains what crypto assets are. Where governments institutions often called for bans on crypto assets in the past, the focus now lies on education and responsible investing. This is a positive development, not only for (young) investors, but also for the maturation of the crypto domain.