Spain is set to establish new regulations that target influencers promoting cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency investments. The regulation is aimed at curbing misleading advertising and so-called "pump and dump" schemes that cost investors hundreds of millions of dollars.

The nation's financial regulator, Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), said its new rules would govern how influencers, their sponsors, can legally promote crypto-asset investments online. Under the new rules, which will officially take effect on Feb. 17, influencers and ad agencies will be required to be "clear, balanced, and fair" when promoting cryptocurrency investments.

Advertisers and influencers with more than 100,000 followers will be required to inform the CNMV at least 10 days before publishing their video, post, or ad online. The CNMV will then supervise the implementation of the advertisement or post. Failure to adhere to the new rules may result in fines of up to $342,000 per violation.

Influencers must also disclose whether they are compensated for promoting any cryptocurrency or cryptocurrency investments. In these cases, influencers need to issue clear and impartial warnings about the risks of cryptocurrency and investing in cryptocurrencies, including the lack of regulation and the potential loss of the investment. Influencers are also required to provide links to additional information regarding cryptocurrencies. Companies that promote crypto assets, as well as the PR firms they engage with, are also covered by the new rules.

CNMV chief Rodrigo Buenaventura said the rules are necessary to regulate cryptocurrency investments safely. He acknowledged that these types of investments are "new terrain" for him and his office, and there will undoubtedly be some pushback from the industry, particularly since it has run unregulated for so long.

Spain's proposed rules are the first of their kind to be implemented by a European Union member country. The EU has yet to officially agree on standard rules to regulate the trading the use of cryptocurrencies.

Crypto advertisements have recently been targeted by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the United Kingdom. Last year, the advertising authority removed advertisements from Coinbase, Kraken, eToro, and other cryptocurrency companies for ad infractions. Crypto.com's two mobile app adverts were recently taken down by the ASA.

In recent weeks, some influencers who promoted crypto assets and similar items have come under fire. A reality TV celebrity was fined $22,800 by French authorities in July for "misleading commercial practices" in connection with a Snapchat ad for a Bitcoin trading service. In a class-action complaint filed this month, Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather were identified as defendants in an alleged "pump and dump" scam involving a cryptocurrency.