Soccer Star Andrés Iniesta Warned by Spanish Regulator After Promoting Binance

“I’m learning how to get started with crypto with @binance,” Iniesta told his 25 million Twitter followers.

AccessTimeIconNov 25, 2021 at 10:18 a.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:08 p.m. UTC

Soccer star Andrés Iniesta, who plays for Japan’s Vissel Kobe, received a warning from the Spanish markets regulator after he promoted trading on cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Iniesta, who spent much of his career at FC Barcelona and has over 25 million followers on Twitter, wrote that he is “learning how to get started with crypto with @binance #BinanceForAll.”

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  • Spain’s markets regulator, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), replied to the tweet, pointing out that “cryptoassets, being unregulated products, carry some significant risks.”

    There was no indication whether Iniesta was paid to post the message about Binance, Reuters reported. Former teammates at Barcelona are known to share their enthusiasm for crypto projects.

    Iniesta had not responded to a request for a comment through the club’s press office by publication time.

    CORRECTION (Nov. 25, 10:38 UTC): Corrects Iniesta’s soccer club, changes photograph.


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    Ian Allison

    Ian Allison is an award-winning senior reporter at CoinDesk. He holds ETH.