The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned a series of adverts by Coinbase, ruling that they implied cryptocurrency could help ease cost-of-living pressures and downplayed the risks associated with crypto investing.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints from members of the public after the adverts ran in August, depicting Britain in various states of decline alongside a satirical slogan and the Coinbase logo.
The campaign included three poster adverts and a video which portrayed families, businesses and communities struggling amid economic hardship. Scenes highlighted by the ASA included a family home “in a state of disrepair”, a high street with shuttered shops “littered with binbags and rats”, and supermarket shelves marked with signs showing rising prices.
These images were paired with a satirical refrain suggesting everything was “just fine”, followed by the slogan “if everything’s fine don’t change anything”, displayed alongside Coinbase’s branding.
In its ruling, published on Wednesday, the ASA said 35 people had complained that the adverts were irresponsible and trivialised the risks of cryptocurrency, which remains largely unregulated in the UK.
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