Crypto KOL Disclosure Rules: FTC, SEC, and MiCA in 2026

Most founders I talk to treat KOL compliance as someone else's problem. They hand the creator brief to an agency, the agency sends it to a KOL manager, and the KOL posts whatever they want. If a regulator comes knocking, the theory goes, the creator is the one on the hook.

That theory is wrong, and it keeps getting founders into trouble.

The firm is responsible for any promotion made on its behalf, regardless of who pressed publish. That principle is consistent across the SEC, FTC, FINRA, FCA, and MiCA. Where a firm pays, sponsors, gifts, provides affiliate links, supplies talking points, or otherwise materially benefits from a third party's content, the regulator treats the content as the firm's communication.