Blockchain marketing news in November 2020
A month after PayPal announced that it is entering the crypto market, we learned some new details about the company's plans for 2021. According to their CEO Dan Shulman, the company is planning a much wider embrace of the crypto sector, including big plans to support central bank digital currencies.
At the same time, one PayPal user reported that the platform restricted his account after using its crypto trading service too frequently. This disappointing move has left many crypto traders wondering if a payment giant could provide fair and uncensored transactions.
Moving beyond Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, we are featuring some of the most interesting applications of blockchain technology and shedding some light on how blockchain affects three important marketing communication channels: social media, journalism and PR.
In the case of social media, blockchain can solve problems with centralisation, censorship and custom data control. In the case of journalism, blockchain can provide transparent and authenticated articles and images, a decentralized funding model and press freedom. In the case of PR, blockchain content is way more costly than regular PR stunts because it demands much more industry expertise while constantly facing social media bans and scrutiny.
Finally, researchers at consultancy firm BDCenter published an interesting study. Their report suggests that crypto influencers are not as influential as they think. On the contrary, they have no power over the price of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
News and Reports
PayPal crypto services to go global early 2021, support for CBDCs coming
PayPal’s CEO Dan Shulman reported that demand for crypto trading is 2-3 times higher than anticipated and that the company is planning to launch crypto services globally during the first half of 2021. Shulman also noted that PayPal will “help shape the utility of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).”
PayPal suspends user for crypto trading using PayPal’s own service
After trading with cryptocurrency too often, PayPal suspended one of the user’s accounts and put the remaining funds under a 180-day hold. The user made multiple trades within a week and a possible explanation for PayPal’s actions could be that they were losing a lot of money on these transactions, as the company charges no fees on crypto trading until 2021.
Brave passes 20 million monthly active users and 7 million daily active users
The popular decentralized browser Brave has reached more than 20 million monthly users and 7 million daily active users. Brave is also the top-rated browser in Google Play and has almost 1 million content creators on their platform. These major milestones were achieved only one year after the launch of their first version, Brave 1.0., last November.
Microsoft marketing exec joins blockchain gaming platform Enjin to lead enterprise push
Former Microsoft marketing executive Alex Solomon has joined blockchain gaming platform Enjin as Executive director of Enterprise Platforms. His new role is to attract more clients and improve “customer retention, acquisition and engagement”.
Airbnb’s IPO Prospectus Says Firm May Consider Crypto and Blockchain
Home rental giant Airbnb has made a surprising announcement this month in their prospectus for a planned initial public offering (IPO). After years of refusing Bitcoin payments on its platform, the company may have changed its mind, stating that its future success is closely linked to its ability to adapt to blockchain technology, tokenization and cryptocurrency.
Facebook’s Libra hires former OCC prosecutor and central bank expert
The Libra Association continues to strengthen its leadership team by appointing Saumya Bhavsar as General Counsel of the Libra Networks. Saumya Bhavsar has two decades of experience in financial services as an OCC prosecutor and central bank expert. Her new role will be crucial in developing Libra’s global payments infrastructure.
Aspire introduces ‘Broadcasting On The Blockchain’ messaging Feature
Digital asset company, Aspire Technology, has launched a unique ‘broadcasting on the blockchain’ feature that will allow its users to store and broadcast messages on its blockchain platform permanently. This feature is primarily intended for brand marketing but can also be used for declaring special milestones such as birthdays and anniversaries.
Features and interviews
The Queen expresses an interest in blockchain
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, has expressed interest in learning more about blockchain technology after reading the 6th edition of the Journal of the British Blockchain Association. In a letter to the British Blockchain Association, a member of Buckingham Palace said the queen “was interested to learn that the publication is the first open-access blockchain publication research journal available both in print and online.”
Book excerpt: Libra Shrugged—How Facebook Tried to Take Over the Money
Famous blockchain hater David Gerard, a senior Wikipedia editor and author of the “Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain”, published his second book “Libra Shrugged: How Facebook Tried to Take Over the Money”, and you can check an excerpt from its introduction here:
Social media problems and solutions: ‘Centralization is not sustainable’
In this Coindesk interview, the founder and executive director of nonprofit decentralized social media startup Junto, Eric Yang, talks about some of the main challenges with social media networks and how decentralization and blockchain can provide solutions to the majority of those problems.
Industry Opinions
Blockchain in journalism: Winds of change carry media to new frontiers
One of the biggest challenges facing modern journalism is a continuous decline in public trust in the global news media landscape. Although many believe that blockchain technology could positively affect transparency in journalism, “many media outlets will resist blockchain innovation because of the fear of costs involved in an unfamiliar technology”.
Why Is Blockchain PR So Expensive?
Blockchain PR is a challenging but crucial element in a successful marketing campaign. If you ever wondered why that’s the case, you should check our other resources, where we regularly feature guidance and opinions on blockchain copywriting. This article provides a comparison of traditional and blockchain PR and offers key reasons why blockchain PR is more costly.
Crypto Influencers do not influence Bitcoin price, study finds
Although crypto influencers like to think that they are making a significant impact on the market, a new study from BDCenter finds that this is not the case. The report shows that “when they start tweeting about a certain coin more often, it's because its price has changed—not vice versa,” so it is basically just following the price changes, not creating it.