The rise of social media influencing has opened up new avenues for many content creators. This development is accompanied by financial and legal risks, particularly with the growing attraction to the cryptocurrency sector. Many influencers choose to use these practices, but they could find themselves facing heavy legal penalties. Regulation therefore remains essential even in the digital world.
Currently, a worrying trend has emerged among some influencers: the use of cryptocurrency platforms to hide part of their income. These personalities, often very followed on social networks, are increasingly turning to experts in transactions on cryptocurrency platforms to open accounts and acquire “virtual bags”. These experts allow them to deposit units of virtual currency after purchasing them on specialized platforms, in particular using currencies like Bitcoin, the value of which has seen a spectacular increase in recent months.
Transactions via these cryptocurrency platforms offer a level of anonymity that significantly complicates the task of regulators. The influencers concerned open accounts abroad to keep their income outside traditional banking channels, making traceability and declaration of amounts very difficult.
Supervisory authorities, both local and international, have begun a series of investigations to track the financial flows of these influencers. In this regard, investigations are underway to verify whether these funds, generated by the online activity of influencers, are transferred in the form of cryptocurrencies in order to escape the vigilance of tax authorities, in particular the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI ).
Read also: Cryptocurrency: bitcoin crosses the $95,000 mark for the first time
In Morocco, increased surveillance of transactions
However, financial monitoring agencies have stepped up their efforts to detect and track these overseas financial transactions. Although Bitcoin accounts are known for their secrecy, there are ways for authorities to track transactions, especially when an influencer decides to sell or trade their cryptocurrencies. Commercial transactions are often recorded, which allows authorities to identify the actors involved in these financial flows.
The amount currently monitored by the authorities already exceeds 120 million dirhams. To this end, the tax and financial authorities have been clear “trading in cryptocurrencies and their use is prohibited in the country”. In 2018, the Office des Changes created a service dedicated to monitoring foreign exchange transactions, in particular those carried out by individuals. This initiative aimed to combat the development of unregulated financial activities, in particular those linked to social networks.
Yet penalties for those involved can be severe, including fines of up to 5 million dirhams, and those found guilty face prison terms of up to three years.
Morocco
