A report from financial information site DayTrading.com found that 75% of the most-watched investing videos on TikTok were misleading, with the proportion carrying no risk warning rising from 30% to 60% between September 2025 and April 2026.
The study reviewed 10 viral TikToks in each period, targeting content under hashtags including #StockTok, #FinTok, and #CryptoTok. Videos were scored across four categories: accuracy, risk disclosure, oversimplification, and educational value. The combined content had received more than 20 million views.
In the 2025 sample, 70% of videos received an overall grade of C or below. By April 2026, that figure had risen to 80%. No video in the 2026 sample achieved a top mark for accuracy, compared with 20% in 2025. In the educational value category, no video scored an A in either period.
In the 2026 cohort, 60% of videos received an F for risk disclosure — up from 30% six months earlier. Two videos received an overall grade of F: one promoting cryptocurrency investment on the basis of an alleged planned meeting between Barron Trump and Elon Musk, and another recommending five low-priced cryptocurrencies with claims of millionaire returns within 365 days.
Christian Harris, Broker Analyst and Editor at DayTrading.com, said: “Young investors are being sold certainty that doesn’t exist. When risk warnings vanish from half of viral finance videos, that’s not education, it’s a hazard.”
Olivier Wagner, founder of tax advisory firm 1040 Abroad, described advising clients who had followed a TikTok video promoting offshore accounts as a tax loophole for US citizens. “It presented tax compliance issues and hefty IRS penalties for the advice because the creator omitted all of the disclosure rules surrounding it,” he said.
The findings come as financial regulators in multiple jurisdictions have issued warnings about social media investment content. In January 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority published a factsheet stating that paid promotions must be clearly disclosed and that claims should be true, fair, and not misleading. In March 2026, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority noted in a consumer investments report that social media brings new risks for retail investors, including exposure to scams.
The CFA Institute has previously found that only around 20% of finance-related TikTok content containing investment recommendations included any form of disclosure.
Besides TikTok finance influencers, young investors also increasingly turn to AI tools for financial advice. A recent UK study found that 81% of Gen Z and 80% of Millennials using AI platforms for financial advice do so at least sometimes, with around 14% of Gen Z relying on AI for all of their financial questions.
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