LAURA Kuenssberg has deleted a series of social media posts after she appeared to promote a cryptocurrency called “BBC”.
The Twitter/X account of host of the BBC’s flagship Sunday politics show had talked about “memecoins” – joke-based cryptocurrencies that make money when their value skyrockets due to viral hype, with early buyers profiting by selling at high prices and others often losing out spectacularly.
This month, Donald Trump launched a cryptocurrency called $TRUMP, a memecoin that rapidly surged in market value and reportedly made the now-US president billions.
It also sparked a large interest in the idea of memecoins, which Kuenssberg’s account appeared to tap into.
“In our latest broadcast we went over ‘memecoins’ and how they could possibly be the next big face of digital finance,” it said. “We've decided we also want to join in on the action. Coming soon…”
However, the website it linked to is not available in the UK, and the Financial Conduct Authority states: “This firm may be providing or promoting financial services or products without our permission.
“You should avoid dealing with this firm and beware of scams.”
The link was soon deleted from Kuenssberg’s profile and replaced with a second which also promoted the BBC cryptocurrency, this time from a website available in the UK.
All posts were deleted soon after.
It is understood that Kuenssberg’s account was hacked and she had no input in the posts promoting the cryptocurrency.
