F1 Teams Remove Crypto Ads Following France’s Advertising Laws

RacingNews365’s reported on July 26 that because of France’s advertising laws, numerous Formula One teams were required to conceal or remove decals showing branding by crypto-related companies during the French Grand Prix weekend.

One of the countries that adopt cryptocurrencies most quickly is France. According to triple-A research, there are presently 3.4 million cryptocurrency owners in France or 5.0% of the country’s total population.

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France has always kept substantial limitations on advertising certain items like tobacco, alcohol, etc. However, regarding legislation restricting advertising, cryptocurrency is the most recent addition.

As many people in France and abroad are learning about cryptos, the regulations governing the advertisement of these items are not only subject to a growing amount of regulation but are also getting more and more restricted.

Google has issued a report titled “Financial products and services policy of July 2022” regulating cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets in France that states that advertisers must be registered as Digital Asset Service Providers (DASP) with the AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers). In addition, it is also necessary to adhere to any additional local legal requirements.

Therefore, the legal limits in France, a nation whose domestic financial markets are overseen by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, force racing teams to seek legal advice immediately.

Influence Of French Advertising Regulations On F1 Teams’ Crypto Ads

Ten teams entered the competition, and eight of them have one or multiple kinds of partnerships with crypto players. All of them had to abide by the guidelines and were told to get away from any branding that mentioned cryptocurrencies.

Reports state that the Alfa Romeo team has done the same for the cryptocurrency Floki Inu and crypto lender Vauld as other teams. Even though Crypto.com has been a global partner of the racing series since July 2021, its logo was not also seen at the French Grand Prix on Sunday.

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A spokesman of Crypto.com notified RacingNews365.com that they had decided not to utilize their branding rights for this competition. However, it continues to be F1’s global partner, and they expect to exploit these rights in new ways in upcoming contests.  The spokesperson also asserts that their cooperation with Aston Martin is subject to the same regulation.

Alfa Romeo also highlighted the reason for this decision, saying:

The team is complying with all French regulations with regard to crypto partner advertising on the car. We have been advised that, in order to display a cryptocurrency partner logo in France, the cryptocurrency brand must be registered at the AMF, which is not the case for two of our cryptocurrency partners.

                   Featured image from Flickr, chart from Tradingview.com