'Mem' Coin tries to open up the crypto madness with London advertising fireworks

A digital token named after the dog of Elon Musk launched a large advertising campaign in the London public transport system, which is financed by a “tax” to new buyers.

Ads with the slogan "Missing Doge? Get Floki" have appeared in subway stations, trains and buses in the British capital in the past few weeks, for enthusiasm for Floki Inu. to arouse coin.

The goal of the branding campaign is to strengthen the "legitimation" of the coin and the "trust of the average consumer" when buying, according to the group's marketing chief, which identified himself under the pseudonym Sabre. "There are many fraudsters in this game," he said.

"These advertising campaigns will run together and a comprehensive attack on the public London transport system," said Floki's promoters on medium last month. The Coin’s supporters say that they have also made agreements to advertise on advertising boards in the city center of Los Angeles and plan a push to countries such as Japan, China and Russia.

The direct marketing from coins to the public will probably increase the focus of the regulatory authorities on crypto advertising. The British Financial Supervisory Authority (Financial Conduct Authority) has declared that it needs more powers to contain the supporters of crypto ventures, while the chairman of the US stock exchange supervisory authority, Gary Gensler, to protect investors from "fraud and abuse".

floki inu can pounce on expensive advertising because-like some other “MEM” coins-it imposes a marketing fee of 4 percent for buyers. This fee is used for the "onboarding of influencers" and "for the further development and growth of the floki ecosystem", according to the Coin’s website.

The combined value of the two marketing walls of the project containing these funds, according to the Etherscan, rose from almost zero this summer to a maximum level of crypto-assets worth almost $ 3.5 million in mid-September. The Coin’s Prize has risen by 1,600 percent since the end of August, show Coinbase data.

Floki Inu did not respond to a request from the Financial Times about a comment on which individuals or companies have control over the project.

There are no signs that Musk is involved in the project, and the Tesla boss did not respond to a request for comment.

Transport for London, the British governmental authority that operates the transport network, said that it was "the customer's obligation to ensure" [Its ads] are compliant to run in Great Britain ".

"It is not the responsibility of TFL to carry out a due diligence with the person or the company," she added.

Hayley Brady, partner and head of media and digital at the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, said that crypto advertising in public transport would probably increase the concerns of consumer protection authorities in the regulatory authorities.

"These ads are colorful. You have emojis. You aim at a completely different market as traditional investments or could target it," she said.

Most crypto ads in Great Britain fall within the area of responsibility of advertising standards Authority, the self-regulatory authority in the industry. A stricter set of rules for advertising investments that the FCA operated is largely not the case for crypto, since the assets are not regulated like standard investments.

supporters of personal finances have highlighted this gap in treatment as one of the main worries. For example, in many legal systems, strict rules apply to advertising for stock markets for small investors who make advertisements for company entries unlikely.

The outgoing FCA chairman Charles Randell said last month that urgent measures were necessary to prevent risky or fraudulent cryptosystems-also through some social media influencers, of which he said that they "pump and drop" new coins.

The financial guard said last week that he "was working on the series of rules that may apply" if the British government carries out a proposal to expand the stricter rules to crypto.

The ASA also swore to act against misleading crypto marketing with its existing powers. The agency said that she received no complaints about Floki Inu, but will check the advertisements to ensure that you are adequately presenting the risks of investments.

TfL announced that all crypto ads have to be checked for compliance with the ASA rules since 2018 before they are published. It is said that advertisements must be provided with liability excludes in order to say that crypto is not regulated in Great Britain and that the money invested is at risk.

joshua.oliver@ft.com