FCA Finalised Guidance on Cryptoasset Financial Promotions (FG23/3)

The guidance centers on the existing requirement that financial promotions be fair, clear and not misleading. It applies across formats, including websites, mobile applications, emails, online advertising and social media. The intended audience includes FCA-authorised firms, businesses registered under the UK Money Laundering Regulations, overseas crypto firms marketing to UK consumers, promotion approvers, platforms, influencers and other participants in the communication chain.

FG23/3 should be read with the statutory financial-promotion restriction in section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Financial Promotion Order, PS23/6 and the current FCA Handbook. The underlying rules classify qualifying cryptoassets as restricted mass market investments and include risk warnings, limits on incentives, consumer categorisation, a cooling-off period and appropriateness testing. FG23/3 primarily explains how the broader fair, clear and not misleading standard applies in crypto-specific situations.

The FCA expects firms to assess both the substance and presentation of a promotion. Information should be understandable for its likely audience, balanced between benefits and risks, accurate, current and supported by evidence. Important warnings should not be obscured, and material costs, fees or limitations should not be omitted. Claims about past or future performance require particular care, while firms should maintain systems capable of monitoring claims and withdrawing or amending promotions that cease to comply.

For authorised firms, the guidance also connects promotions to the Consumer Duty. Communications should support retail customer understanding, avoid exploiting behavioural biases or vulnerabilities, and not cause foreseeable harm. Where a cryptoasset or campaign is too complex for its intended audience to understand, the FCA indicates that communicating or approving the promotion may be inconsistent with the Duty.

FG23/3 gives detailed treatment to cryptoassets promoted as stable, linked to fiat currency or backed by another asset. Firms should substantiate stability and backing claims, explain how the mechanism works, disclose relevant reserves or underlying assets, identify custodians, describe redemption terms and communicate insolvency and dependency risks. The FCA states that stability or store-of-value claims relying mainly on an algorithm or reserves of other cryptoassets are likely to breach its standards.

Promotions for complex-yield arrangements, including some staking, lending and borrowing models, should explain how advertised returns could be achieved and provide objective support for assumptions. They should clearly disclose fees, ownership consequences, counterparty and operational risks, and should not describe targeted returns as guaranteed. Approvers are expected to monitor continuing compliance for the life of an approved promotion.

The guidance expects due diligence on the cryptoasset or service and on claims made in the promotion. Relevant checks may cover issuers and developers, white papers, fraud and financial-crime links, blockchain and code risks, environmental or governance claims, and the legal characterisation of the asset or activity. Firms should form their own view rather than automatically accepting information from an unregulated source.

Where an arrangement changes legal or beneficial ownership, the promotion should clearly identify who holds the relevant rights and explain associated insolvency risks. Promotions must also avoid overstating regulatory status: registration under the Money Laundering Regulations is not equivalent to FCA authorisation, and FCA status must not be presented as an endorsement of a cryptoasset or service.

As of June 18, 2026, the FCA continues to cite FG23/3 as support for its cryptoasset marketing rules. The FCA webpage records a February 6, 2026 system update with no content change. For social-media promotions, readers should also use FG24/1, published in March 2024, which replaced the older FG15/4 guidance referenced in the FG23/3 PDF. The FCA says it will keep FG23/3 under review as market practice and the wider UK cryptoasset regime develop.