• Facebook and Google banned crypto adverts on their digital platforms.
• Millennials and Gen Z represent 94% of crypto buyers.
• Influencers are considered more trustworthy than regular news outlets
• Influencer marketing is a new way to attract attention and position a cryptocurrency project in front of its preferred audience.

Crypto popularity epochs have the same end goal, yet the means of achieving them are different. The global consensus has been to reach mass adoption. While crypto bans will not hinder exposure to a mainstream audience, other factors can cause blockchain to be stagnant in becoming part of our daily financial habits.

The price of a crypto asset is driven by speculation and is enriched, as Mark Cuban highlighted, by a “supply and demand” dynamic. There are over 10,000 crypto tokens on CoinMarketCap, with the official number much higher than what is listed. Thus, for one crypto to generate upward momentum, more users need to become aware of it and invest.

Crypto Advertising as a Way to Gain Attention

Facebook and Google banned crypto advertising in 2018, reducing the marketing potential for new projects. Cryptocurrency marketers lacked the outreach facilitated by the social platforms, diverting their attention to new means of drawing attention.

Reports indicate that GenZ and Millennials represent the broader percentage of crypto investors. A Piplsay research indicates 49% of Millennials own cryptocurrencies compared to 13% of GenZ’s. Additionally, over 94% of cryptocurrency buyers are comprised of Gen Z/Millennial buyers. Furthermore, as a YPulse Behavioral Study shows, both generational demographics have a heightened affinity for online influencers; however, Gen Zs are trusting influencers more than news outlets.

New means of advertising crypto are the gateway for crypto projects to catch the attention of their target audience. Elon Musk inaugurated the meme coin parade after promoting DogeCoin to his over 5 million Twitter followers. Furthermore, meme coins have generated upward momentum as they provided high financial incentives, something new investors have been seeking.

Crypto is a Risky Trade

Stock Lizard Guru, a Twitter investor with over 125K followers, highlights that his tips are not investment advice, and people should not dump their “life savings into the stock market and hope you’re going to be filthy rich” as investing comes with risks as well as rewards.

Driven by high financial incentives and distrust in regular economic models, new crypto investors cave into the social media pressure. Meme stocks and coins have painted a prosperous picture for new investors. However, as investors and traders highlight time and time again, investments come at a risk. The SEC also cautioned in 2017 about scam projects while The Verge highlighted the new crypto mechanics “result is a new gold rush in crypto scams.”

On the Flipside

• Cryptocurrency scams could be detrimental for the future of the crypto and blockchain market adoption process
• Influencers stating “this is not financial advice” still hinders investors’ perceptions of the quality of a cryptocurrency
• The “Coinbase Effect” has a similar audience effect as it dictates which coin is worth investing in.

Cringy Crypto Advertisements

Regardless, crypto is seeking new avenues to target crypto investors who are new to the industry or are enthusiastic about high-risk trading. Below, we list some of the most “notable” crypto advertisements of 2021, all of which are promoting shallow projects with no real use cases.

Eterehum-Max and Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian took to Instagram to promote Ethereum Max to her over 228 million followers. The influencer’s promotion highlighted that the new token burned over 50% of “their admin wallet” to give back to the “entire e-max community.”

Ethereum Max was also promoted by boxer Floyd Mayweather and accepted as payment during the highest pay-per-view fight in boxing history. The boxer was booed off stage during the 2021 Miami Bitcoin Convention. The Wolf Of All Streets podcast host highlighted that the token does not have a whitepaper, and that generally indicates an investment “red flag.”

UEFA 2020 Streaking

During Euro 2020, a streaker rushed the field to promote a so-called rival to Bitcoin, WTF Coin. The woman streaker wore a black top with the text “WTF Coin” and the website of the cryptocurrency.

Streaking as a form of influencer marketing is no novelty. During the 2019 UEFA Champions League, a woman used the same tactic to promote a non-crypto-related website. WTF Coin is a meme coin or “shit coin” which has no fundamental value as opposed to generating revenue based on price speculation.

DogeCoin Miami Conference

During the 2021 Bitcoin Miami conference, a DogeCoin army cadet stormed the stage during a panel discussion to grab attention screaming, “DogeCoin to the moon!”

According to Decrypt, the Twitter username @maxotg_ was the person who took over the stage. Elon Musk has given rise to DogeCoin notoriety after he self-proclaimed himself as the DogeFather and used his social media influence to drive the price of Dogecoin to an all-time high of $0.68

SafeMoon

A crowdfunding initiative by the Safemoon community saw a digital billboard of the token featured in Times Square. Built on the Binance Smart Chain, SafeMoon is the equivalent of the demands of the new investor generation.

While some call Bitcoin a boomer coin due to its low percentile gains, SafeMoon made headlines as a preferred millennial or Gen Z coin. The price of Safemoon increased by 900% during the initial hype; however, it quickly lost much of its momentum.