Binance says footballer Andrés Iniesta was paid for Twitter post

Footballer Andrés Iniesta was paid by Binance for the promotional tweet that provoked a backlash from Spain’s financial regulator but the deal was not disclosed because of a “misunderstanding”, the crypto exchange has said.

The tweet from Iniesta was one of four posts by prominent football players that Binance said it sponsored as “part of an influencer campaign”. Spain’s National Securities Market Commission responded to the World Cup star’s post earlier this week on Twitter to remind him that “cryptoassets, as non-regulated products, have some relevant risks”. 

Spain’s financial watchdog is one of several national regulators that have voiced concern over celebrities and influencers promoting high-risk digital assets on social media.

“What we are saying to the influencers, to celebrities, and everyone else is ‘Please take care, you are recommending, in exchange for money, investment in unregulated products that have additional risks to [the] public’,” the Spanish regulator said in response to a query by the Financial Times about its tweet to Iniesta.

Binance said it generally intends for all sponsored posts to be disclosed. “The post was not marked #Ad due to a misunderstanding between Binance and [Iniesta’s] team,” it said.

Tweets by Raúl Jiménez, who plays for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, Colombian player James Rodríguez and Atlético Madrid striker Luis Suárez all appeared without disclosure that Binance had paid for the endorsement, which the exchange also attributed to miscommunication.

Suárez disclosed the “paid partnership” in an Instagram post, while Rodríguez and Iniesta made no reference to the sponsorship deal in their posts on the Meta-owned image sharing network.

Iniesta declined to comment. The other footballers did not respond to requests for comment.

The posts from the four sport stars, who have a combined 64m Twitter followers, come at a time when regulators and consumer groups are increasingly concerned about the level of transparency provided by influencers on their commercial relationships.

The European Advertising Standards Alliance, which advises the ad industry on self regulation, says in its “best practice recommendation on influencer marketing” that making sure commercial posts are recognisable “is a cornerstone of responsible advertising”.

Thera Adam, co-head of global intellectual property at law firm Eversheds Sutherland said “most” EU jurisdictions had adopted disclosure rules but that ads standards were implemented on a national level with some variation across the bloc.

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority issued a warning to influencers at large in March after finding “unacceptable” and “widespread failure to disclose advertising” under national rules.

Watchdogs have also stated concerns over the proliferation of online content promoting risky investment and trading ideas during the pandemic.

Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, in a speech this summer said “unaccountable social media influencers” played a role in encouraging high-risk investments such as crypto and speculative stock bets, particularly among younger investors.

Anthony Morrow, co-founder of financial advice group OpenMoney, said that for customers with no other source of financial advice, turning to social media was “like the Wild West of investments”.

Research by investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown found that the majority of traders aged between 18 and 34 trawled social media for investing ideas.