Ahead of ether ETFs, ad campaigns tout benefits of Ethereum blockchain
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Victoria Ellis/Axios
How does one introduce the Ethereum blockchain to the masses? Two providers of digital-asset ETFs just launched advertisements that take a stab.
Why it matters: As more crypto assets get ETF wrappers, investment pros are increasingly shaping the narrative behind blockchain technology.
Driving the news: Bitwise officially kicks off its ad campaign today, hitting TV networks CNBC, Bloomberg, and Fox Business, as well as Reddit and YouTube.
The ad compares Big Finance to Crypto with human representations, a nod to Apple's "I'm a MAC, I'm a PC" ads.
- An older man wearing a suit, a robe and a sleep mask goes to bed, while a younger looking guy in a tee and jeans goes: "But it's 4 p.m." (That's when the stock market closes. Crypto markets are open around the clock)
- The tagline of the video is: "Unlike Big Finance, Ethereum doesn't clock out at 4 p.m."
Between the lines: Victoria Anderson, Bitwise's head of growth marketing, tells Axios that the ad was meant to "get people to think about what Ethereum's disrupting," and "highlight the blockchain's versatility."
State of play: Digital-asset exchange traded funds are new in the U.S. market.
- After a decade of hype, spot bitcoin ETFs launched in January, effectively listing the cryptocurrency on stock exchanges and giving it a pathway to investment portfolios alongside stocks and bonds.
- ETFs for Ethereum's coin, ether, are next. Revisions to filings for new funds are landing Friday, with Bloomberg Intelligence analysts projecting a launch date of July 2.
VanEck has its own ad out. "Enter the Ether" strikes for the ether-eal — the ad is a dreamy under-40 second video that presents B-roll of things like a match igniting and a woman sitting in a tree.
- A voiceover says things like: "Could it be that art escapes its frame and music creates its own keys" and "What could Ethereum be?" (Yes, it rhymes.)
My thought bubble: One ad zooms in, and the other zooms out.
One focuses on the blockchain, but leaves the answer of "what it is" to the imagination, while the other pokes fun at how legacy financial systems operate relative to new ones.
The bottom line: Both ads seem to be targeting a psychographic, less demographic (Read: retail investors.)
