The European Union's financial regulators on Thursday warned consumers that "many crypto-assets are highly risky and speculative", the Croatian Central Bank (HNB) said.

This warning comes in the context of growing consumer activity and interest in crypto-assets and the aggressive promotion of those assets and related products, including through social media.

The warning was issued by the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) that consist of several regulators whose acronyms are EBA, ESMA and EIOPA.

Consumers should be aware of “the lack of recourse or protection available to them, as crypto-assets and related products and services typically fall outside existing protection under current EU financial services rules.”

“In relation to the current situation in Ukraine, and with a view to ensuring the proper implementation of the sanctions in place, the ESAs welcome the clarification by the Council of the European Union of the scope of the restrictive measures against Russian and Belarusian entities and individuals as regards crypto-assets,” the ESAs said in a press release.