Former England soccer asterisk Michael Robert Owen has been criticized for promoting Punt Casino, an unlicensed crypto casino, inwards infringement of UK gambling laws, The Athletic reports.
Separately, the ex-Liverpool and Real capital of Spain striker has been ordered past the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to cease promoting an NFT (non-fungible token) concept. It claimed to be “the first-ever (NFTs) that can’t turn a loss their initial value.”
Owen, who scored 40 goals for England and won the Ballon d’Or inward 2001, was unveiled as Punt Casino’s “global firebrand ambassador” in February. The accompanying press out outlet said he would come along in various commercial message and online advertising campaigns for the casino, and included a cite attributed to Owen.
“I’m a strong worshiper in the force of crypto, so teaming upwardly with an innovative weapons platform like Punt Casino feels like a rude(a) fit,” it read.
Worth a Punt?
Owen’s profile is also a born(p) conniption for the UK gaming market, despite Punt Casino’s want of licensing inward that jurisdiction. Its name, “punt,” is a specifically British people slang word for betting.
The Athletic said it made “inquiries,” after which tweets by Owen promoting the gambling casino were deleted and its operations were “geo-blocked” for UK users.
Punt Casino is a fully licensed Curacao casino operating under the rules and regulations associated with that license,” a voice told The Athletic. “We make out non target or kick upstairs our casino to customers of any countries and/or jurisdictions not allowed past such license.”
The statement is carefully worded. It is not sort out whether the terms of Punt Casino’s Curacao permission allowed it to point the UK, although regulatory inadvertence inwards the tiny Caribbean Sea island is notoriously lax.
‘Misleading’ NFTs
Owen’s tweets inward financial backing of the NFT strategy experience also been deleted after the ASA’s intervention. The ex-footballer claimed on Twitter shoemaker's last month that “Despite the critics, my NFTs will be the first-ever (sic) that can’t turn a loss their initial value.”
NFTs are digital tokens that put up stand for ownership of an underlying virtual item. Each NFT is unique. Once minted, it exists as a permanent and unique cogent evidence of title that cannot be edited, deleted, or copied.
The market inward NFTs soared end-to-end 2021, but has plunged in recent months. The average out damage is at present less than half of its March 2021 peak.
The construct behindhand Owen’s NFTs is that to each one token contains code that ensures it cannot follow sold for to a lesser extent than the archetype purchase price. But no more plus is immune from market pressures, and if no one wants to purchase a token at the archetype price, it is effectively worth nothing.
The ASA said the tweet was likely to lead astray the public.
The authority is currently conducting a wide-ranging limited review of the issues surrounding NFT advertising.