Michael Owen Has Deleted Tweets Which Breached UK Laws On Gambling Advertising, According To Reports
Michael Owen has deleted tweets which breached UK laws on gambling advertising, according to reports.
The former England, Liverpool and Real Madrid striker made two Twitter posts which promoted unlicensed cryptocurrency casino 'Punt Casino'.
And, as reported by , the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered Owen to delete his promotion of a contentious non-fungible token (NFT) scheme which broke rules about advertising cryptocurrency products.
Michael Owen has reportedly deleted tweets which breached UK laws on gambling advertising
The former England, Liverpool and Real Madrid striker made two Twitter posts which promoted unlicensed cryptocurrency casino 'Punt Casino', which does not have a UK licence
On May 16, Owen took to Twitter to promote Curacao-registered Punt Casino, which does not have a UK licence.
UK law dictates only firms approved by the UK Gambling Commission can be advertised to UK customers.
The tweets have since been deleted by the 42-year-old, and Punt Casino's website has reportedly been geo-blocked, meaning those in the UK cannot access the website.
A spokesperson said: 'Punt Casino is a fully licensed Curacao casino operating under the rules and regulations associated with that license.
Owen also came under heavy fire for encouraging people to invest in his latest NFT venture
His controversial claims that they cannot lose their value have provoked widespread scrutiny
'We do not target or promote our casino to customers of any countries and/or jurisdictions not allowed by such license...
Punt Casino takes its responsibilities as a legitimate and licensed casino operator very seriously.'
Owen has said about the company: 'I'm a strong believer in the power of crypto, so teaming up with an innovative platform like Punt Casino feels like a natural fit.'
Punt Casino, based on the Caribbean island of Curacao, accepts cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Ethereum as payment.
Andrew Green, also involved in the project, said 'we cannot guarantee or say...
you cannot lose'
Owen has been accused of 'encouraging people to invest hard-earned cash in risky assets'
This is unusual in the UK because the gambling regulator says the practice has sizeable risks of criminal activity, for http://www.blindmorality.com/ example money laundering.
Owen was also told by the ASA to delete a tweet advertising NFTs, which courted controversy due his claims they were 'the first-ever that can't lose their initial value'.
A spokesperson for Owen said the case is now closed after he removed the tweet.
He appeared to believe the NFTs contain code which means it cannot be sold for less than it was bought for - but if someone buys one and the price goes down, the customer reportedly cannot cut their losses by selling up - so they lose the whole amount they paid.