Kieran Maguire lambasts Arsenal after ‘irresponsible’ update – ‘they have zero standards’
The cryptocurrency industry has “zero standards” – but Arsenal should know better than to parrot their marketing.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the Gunners’ relationship with controversial crypto firm Socios.
Arsenal first partnered with the fan token platform, which runs on blockchain technology, in July last year.
The alliance received negative attention the following December when the Advertising Standards Agency pulled two Facebook adverts that they argued misled the public about the financial risk inherent in crypto.
Arsenal lodged an appeal but the ASA confirmed last Wednesday (10 August) that the original ruling had been upheld.
The ASA reasoned that the adverts in question were “irresponsible” and “took advantage of consumers’ inexperience.”
Maguire claimed that the lack of regulation in the crypto industry means that such controversies are inevitable.
“The crypto industry itself has zero standards,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“But Arsenal do have a responsibility as a senior player in football to not only do the right thing but be seen to do the right thing.
“This doesn’t reflect well on the people making the decisions. In the initial advert they put out on Facebook, there were no warnings about the volatile nature of the product or that you could lose all your money.
“But provided these products are advertised as the equivalent of trading cards, they are absolutely fine.
“However, you don’t consider it as an investment and don’t think you are going to get rich off the back of it.”
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