The ads by crypto companies such as Coinbase and FTX excited the crypto community and even led to a massive spike in the traffic of the Coinbase website.
This, however did not impress the US senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) who slammed the companies for the ads which he said painted cryptocurrencies as profitable without warning Americans of the potential risks that they would be exposed to by investing in digital assets such as Bitcoin.
According to the senator, cryptocurrencies lack basic investor protection oversight. He said that the ads should have warned the public of the risks that are inherent in cryptos such as volatility, absence of regulation and possible exposure to frauds that are common in the system.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) slams big crypto ads aired during the Super Bowl:
“They brought in celebrities and gimmicks to make crypto sound exciting and daring and profitable. But the ads left a few things out. They didn’t mention the fraud, the scams, and the outright theft.” pic.twitter.com/RdWt251DgL
— The Recount (@therecount) February 15, 2022
The senator raised concerns on the possibility of the ads by the crypto companies being misleading during Tuesday’s senate meeting on the regulation of stablecoins.
He said that the reason the companies spent millions of dollars in the ads is to lure the American public to invest in digital assets without being privy to the inherent risks. He also said that the reason the companies were willing to spend so much to promote cryptocurrencies is that they’re aware that cryptocurrency is not money.
Speaking on the Super Bowl ads that cost up to $20 million for a 30 seconds ad, Senator Brown said,
“If this were actually meant to be used as a currency, why would you need to buy ads? I don’t think I’ve ever seen … the Federal Reserve buy a multi-million dollar commercial for U.S. dollars.”
Responses from the crypto community as seen from comments on Twitter shows that the senator’s reaction and utterances didn’t go down well with the community of cryptocurrency users.
Some wondered why the senator has not shown opposition to the banks that run commercials on Super Bowl. Others referred to the “printing of money” on the legacy system as the main fraud in the financial system.
However, the senator still had the support of many users who raised concern that cryptocurrency has been known to be a channel through which terrorism, ransomware and some of the activities on the dark web are financed.
The gimmick of crypto currency is that people like to jump into anything shiny and new no matter how risky. Remember the Junk bond bubble before it burst.
— Robt Wright (@StrugglingMan2) February 16, 2022
Others described crypto as pyramid schemes that are bound to collapse saying that those entering the market at the base would be the suckers. One of those that hold such views is Martha Edwards who wrote:
“And they are running out of suckers at the bottom of the pyramid. The people who buy in now will lose when it collapses. It’s a hot potato. I don’t want to see one person on TV crying because they lost their life savings.”
