Crypto Advertising Ramps Up

Remember GBTC's "Drop Gold" campaign from the last cycle? Crypto.com buying air time at the Superbowl? Terra, Binance, FTX, and others sponsoring major sporting teams?

Followed by an awkward silence as the bear market bit deeper, crypto organizations went bankrupt, regulators started digging, and anything related to digital assets turned rapidly toxic.

A New Era

As the cycle turned and interest has slowly come back to crypto, so have the advertising dollars. We're nothing like near that level of frenzy and FOMO we saw in 2021 and 2022. By comparison, this cycle has been relatively sedate. But things are starting to change.

Competition is heating up for consumer attention as the ETFs continue to hoover up bitcoin, which has just broken above $50,000 for the first time since December 2021.

There was no Superbowl crypto ad this time: Proof, perhaps, that it's still early in this cycle, and that companies are maintaining a healthy level of caution. But there are clear signs that the advertising war is gaining pace. There are many tens of billions of customers' money at stake, after all, and no one wants to lose out.

Coinbase has just come out with a doozy. Abraham Lincoln, speaking from the penny, appeals to the audience to let him go digital and free him from a now-worthless coin. (Hats off to Coinbase for this one.)

ETFs Step Up

Coinbase aren't alone. The ETF providers have been working hard to attract the TradFi crowd. BlackRock, unsurprisingly, has done an excellent job in pitching their product to Boomers.

Others have gone for a less restrained approach, seeking to capitalize on renewed hype around cryptocurrencies. VanEck has focused more on crypto natives, with its "HODL" ticker and a slightly more cypherpunk feel to its ad (ironically, for a product aimed squarely at TradFi).

What we haven't started to see yet are those big influencer deals, like Matt Damon endorsing Crypto.com, or huge sponsorship contracts with sports venues and teams. Neither have we seen celebrities jumping on the bandwagon, boasting about NFT purchases and their crypto portfolios.

That will no doubt come, and when it does, it will probably be another signal the top is near. Just remember, though: When Jim Cramer goes all in, it's time to sell everything.

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