The rule.
Per ESMA’s 2024 Guidelines, a paid KOL post is a marketing communication with every brand-side obligation.
“Any communication made by a third party that is paid for, instructed, or otherwise controlled by the offeror, person seeking admission to trading, or crypto-asset service provider, and that is addressed to clients or potential clients with the purpose of promoting the crypto-asset, the public offer, the admission to trading, or the crypto-asset service, constitutes a marketing communication for the purposes of Article 7, 29, 53 and 88 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 and is subject to the requirements thereof.”
The HTX enforcement action in February 2026 confirmed the reach: KOL contracts with quantified yield claims and no risk-parity treatment are non-compliant, and the CASP — not just the KOL — is on the hook.
What it requires.
Identification as paid. Disclose the commercial relationship unmissably: “#ad,” “Paid partnership with [brand],” or the native sponsored label. Burying it in a thread or comment fails.
Substantiation of claims. A KOL saying “up to 24% APY” doesn’t insulate the brand from the same Article 88 obligation.
Risk parity in the post itself. A video promising a yield must carry the proportionate risk treatment; linking out fails.
Brand liability. The CASP or issuer that funded the campaign is responsible. “The KOL said it, not us” is not a defense.
Common violations.
Tweet 1/8: “Just moved my portfolio to [exchange]. 18% APY on USDT. Game-changer.”
Tweet 8/8: “#ad”
Disclosure at the end of an eight-post thread — many see tweet 1 alone. Fails identification.
Video: “3 reasons [exchange] is the best place to earn on stablecoins.”
Description: “Risks at [link].”
Risk offloaded to a click-through — fails risk parity. Also fails identification without a “Paid partnership” label.
Contract: “Talent will mention ‘up to 24% yield’ in three of five required posts. Payment $X per post.”
The contract bakes in a claim that fails Article 88 by design. Standard finding in KOL-program audits.
How to comply.
Require the native paid-partnership label wherever it exists (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X). “#ad” is the fallback.
Every benefit claim gets the matching risk statement in the same frame — for video, on-screen or spoken in the same segment.
Contracts specify approved claim language from the whitepaper, not target metrics like “mention up to X% yield.”
Every KOL deliverable passes compliance review before going live. Live-streamed content is the highest-risk category.
Related rules.
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KOL content inherits every Article 88 obligation.
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Risk parity applies to KOL content frame-by-frame.
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Claims must match the whitepaper, not the brand’s framing.