Original Authors: Xu Qian, Li Xinyi

Introduction

In public perception, KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) are opinion leaders and industry elites, often seen as "professional technical talents" who express personal views. However, why are KOLs in the Web3-related fields and derivative industries frequently implicated in criminal cases? What aspects can lawyers consider to provide criminal risk prevention advice for KOLs? As the author has previously defended a KOL defendant in a digital collectibles fraud case, this article will explore the boundaries of KOLs in the Web3-related fields "suspected of criminal offenses" from a legal perspective, based on the defense experience in the digital collectibles industry.

This article represents the author's personal views and does not constitute legal opinions or advice, nor does it judge whether KOL behavior constitutes a crime. Whether certain behaviors are recognized as criminal offenses is highly case-specific and must be assessed by judicial authorities based on all evidence.

Definition of KOL

In a legal context, KOL (Key Opinion Leader) is not a strict legal concept but refers to individuals or organizations that possess a certain level of influence, appeal, and fan base in specific fields. In the digital collectibles industry, common KOLs typically include:

• Experienced Collectors: Trusted by followers for their unique insights and extensive collection experience.
• Industry Analysts: Interpreting projects and analyzing market trends through articles, videos, etc.
• Community Leaders: Operating large communities that can quickly gather attention and interest.

The core characteristic is "influence," which can directly or indirectly affect fans' investment decisions and purchasing behaviors, extending to project parties (platforms) that require these KOLs for endorsement and promotion.

Why Does the Digital Collectibles Industry Need KOLs?

The characteristics of the digital collectibles industry naturally align with KOLs:

1. High Information Asymmetry: Project parties hold all the information, while ordinary investors face complex blockchain technology, ambiguous artistic value, and uncertain rights, making it difficult to independently assess authenticity and value. KOLs act as "information filters" and "value discoverers."

2. Scarcity of Trust: In a decentralized, anonymous environment, establishing trust is extremely costly. KOLs leverage their long-accumulated credibility to provide "credit endorsement" for projects, where their endorsement carries more weight than the project party's extensive promotion.

3. Community-Driven Attributes: The popularity of digital collectibles heavily relies on community consensus and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) emotions. KOLs are key nodes in creating and amplifying these emotions, quickly driving traffic to projects and achieving "cold starts."

4. High Marketing Efficiency: Compared to traditional advertising, KOLs' precise targeting and whitelist privileges yield higher conversion rates, making them powerful tools for project parties to acquire customers quickly.

Common KOL Work Activities

KOL work may seem diverse, but it primarily revolves around "marketing" and "promotion":

• Content Creation and Publishing: Producing videos, writing articles, and posting updates on social media to analyze, evaluate, and recommend specific digital collectibles projects.
• Live Streaming and Promotion: Showcasing collectibles during live streams, publicly sharing their purchase records, and clearly guiding fans to "buy" or "hold."
• Community Operation and Management: Posting project information in communities, answering questions, creating atmosphere, and maintaining community engagement.
• Collaborative Promotion: Accepting advertising commissions from project parties to publish promotional content on their social media accounts.
• Organizing "Whitelist" Activities: Organizing events to secure priority purchasing qualifications (whitelists) for fans, thereby enhancing fan loyalty.

Legal Logic Behind KOLs Being Classified as Criminal Accomplices

Why are KOLs, who merely engage in promotion, often classified as accomplices in fraud? The core legal logic lies in the theory of "joint crime."

According to the Criminal Law, joint crime refers to two or more persons jointly committing a crime with intent. Once KOLs cross the boundary of mere "information dissemination" and form a "joint criminal intent" with project parties or engage in "assistance," they may constitute accomplices.

The main reasons for conviction include:

1. Subjective "Knowledge" or "Should Have Known": This is the key to conviction.

• Knowledge: Evidence shows that KOLs are aware that the project party is "making empty promises" or an "air project" (lacking actual value support) and that the model is a "hot potato" scam, yet they still promote it. For example, they may have private communications with the project party and know the insider information about the funding scheme.
• Should Have Known: Although KOLs claim ignorance, based on their professional knowledge, industry experience, and common sense, they should be able to assess that the project poses significant risks or is even a scam. For instance, if the project's business model is clearly illogical, promises excessively high returns, or the technical team is falsely packaged, courts are likely to determine that a KOL with professional capabilities "should" recognize these red flags.

2. Objective "Actions": Their promotional activities provide substantial assistance to the fraudulent activities or produce substantial results.

Taking fraud as an example, the path of fraud is: "The perpetrator engages in acts of fabricating facts and concealing the truth (reaching a level of severity under criminal law) → the victim falls into a misunderstanding (there is a causal relationship between the two) → the victim delivers property based on the misunderstanding → the perpetrator illegally occupies the property." If KOLs' actions lead many victims to believe and invest, they are often recognized as "accomplices" in judicial practice.

• Expanding the Criminal Impact for the Project Party: Precisely targeting the scam to a large number of potential victims.
• Helping the Project Party Strengthen Deceptiveness: Using their credibility to make fans lower their guard and believe the project's false promotion.
• Enabling the Project Party to Successfully Obtain Illegal Funds: KOLs' traffic directly leads to significant investments, establishing a causal relationship with the harmful outcome.

3. Interest Ties with the Project Party: If KOLs' compensation is directly linked to sales, new user acquisition, or settled through "profit sharing" or "fixed monthly salary," this forms an "interest community." This model reinforces the court's recognition of their "joint crime."

How Can KOLs Protect Themselves?

Before discussing KOL risk prevention, let's identify which behaviors are easily recognized as criminal offenses. The following behaviors not only pose legal risks in the KOL industry but also in other promotional and marketing fields if they involve "false projects," "insider trading," "promising capital preservation," etc.:

(1) Identifying High-Risk KOL Behaviors

• Participating in False Promotion: Knowing that the project's technology, team, application scenarios, qualifications, etc., are false, yet still packaging and promoting them.
• Promising or Implying Capital Preservation and High Returns: Using phrases like "guaranteed profits" or "capital preservation" to make return promises.
• Promoting Projects Involving "Funding Schemes" or "Ponzi Schemes": Promoting models where later investors pay dividends to earlier ones, leading to inevitable funding chain breaks.
• "Pump and Dump" Schemes: Buying low in advance, then calling on fans to buy at high prices, followed by selling for profit, or even knowing or collaborating with the project party to establish "insider trading" for high profits.
• Charging High Promotion Fees Without Any Due Diligence on the Project: This "get paid to do the job" attitude raises suspicions of "should have known" about the project's issues but neglecting them.

(2) Risk Prevention Suggestions

In a field where opportunities and risks coexist, compliance awareness is a necessary "safety belt." KOLs should:

1. Uphold Bottom Lines and Isolate Risks

• Conduct necessary background checks on project parties before accepting any promotions. Verify the team's true background and past achievements, the feasibility and innovation of the technical plan, the legality and sustainability of the business model, and the authenticity of the application scenarios. Be wary of projects that exaggerate without clear technical logic.
• Request project parties to provide official documents such as company qualifications, value-added telecommunications business operation licenses (ICP, EDI), network culture operation licenses, blockchain information service filing cybersecurity assessment reports, white papers, legal opinions, etc. If they cannot provide or are vague, refuse.

2. Ensure Content Compliance and Safe Expression

• Absolutely prohibit using "guaranteed profits," "lowest point," "highest point," and other promising or inducive terms, while avoiding extremely provocative language that creates market emotions.
• Clearly state "Investment carries risks; proceed with caution" and "This article is a commercial promotion and does not represent investment advice" as risk warnings.
• Objectively state project facts, clearly distinguish between "facts" and "personal opinions," and use cautious wording.

3. Avoid Conflicts of Interest and Set Boundaries in Cooperation

• Prefer fixed-fee advertising cooperation models, linking income to the promotional activity itself rather than directly tying it to project sales performance, token, or digital collectible prices. The latter "performance sharing" or "profit sharing" model may be recognized in judicial practice as forming an interest community with the project party, increasing the risk of being classified as joint criminals.
• Standardize cooperation models, maintaining a certain distance from the project in cooperation, clarifying their status as "independent promoters," and avoiding claims or being misunderstood as partners, advisors, or other core members of the project party.
• When in doubt about a project, adhere to the principle of "better to miss out than to make a mistake," and refuse even if the benefits are high.

4. Preserve Evidence and Improve Processes

• Keep all communication records with project parties (chat records, emails, etc.), contracts, payment receipts, and materials provided by the project party (promotional materials, qualification documents, etc.) complete and stored long-term. This not only proves that basic review obligations were fulfilled but also serves as strong evidence for self-defense in case of litigation.

Conclusion

As trendsetters of the times, KOLs must always remember while enjoying the benefits of influence: the law is the bottom line of behavior; the greater the influence, the heavier the responsibility. A single imprudent promotion may not only deplete years of accumulated credibility but also drag you into the abyss of crime. Only by maintaining respect and proceeding in compliance can one remain undefeated when the tide recedes.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。