Blockchain marketing news in September 2020
September was a busy month in blockchain marketing news.
Before we get into the top stories though, we’d like to point you towards the first in our new series of crypto thought leader articles, which focuses on blockchain educator and entrepreneur Andreas Antonopoulos. He is one of the most prominent figures in the crypto world and the epitome of a thought leader, making him a great person to kick off the series with.
Another blockchain advocate, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, once again confirmed his support for blockchain and Bitcoin, stating that “the future of social media platform Twitter will be shaped by Bitcoin and its underlying technology”. In the aftermath of July's security breach, it seems like Dorsey is ready to push forward with his ideas for a decentralised social network.
Dorsey’s support just goes to show how blockchain is becoming more established within marketing technology and the online economy, and a number of other stories seem to back this up. For example, German multinational Henkel is using blockchain to distribute its latest video series. Also, AdLedger and the Trustworthy Accountability Group both released news of successful blockchain pilot programmes in the area of digital advertising and media.
Elsewhere, there was more positive news for advertisers using the Brave browser, as well as for Permission.io, which has raised $500m for its own privacy-oriented advertising solution.
For all the positive blockchain marketing news that we saw in September though, the story in our ‘And Finally’ section should serve as a reminder that negative headlines are never too far away. Here you’ll find an in-depth overview of Onecoin, which was famous for lavish marketing but ultimately discovered to be a major Ponzi scheme.
From Us
Crypto thought leaders: Andreas Antonopoulos
This is our first blog post in a crypto thought leader profile series, where we feature one of the world's most famous bitcoin and blockchain experts - Andreas Antonopoulos. It includes some of the most interesting details from his career, his most memorable quotes and the secret behind his publishing success.
News and Reports
TAG announces successful completion of distributed ledger technology pilot
The Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) successfully completed the pilot programme which is designed to increase transparency in the digital advertising supply chain. Major brands including Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, Nestle, O2, Virgin Media, and Telefonica/O2 participated in the pilot.
‘Decentralized Reddit’ enables users to secure Twitter on the blockchain
Reddit alternative platform Discussions.app announced its collaboration with Telos network on a decentralized identity system, a tool that records social media accounts on a blockchain in the case they are blocked or banned. This feature will allow users to migrate across platforms without losing their identities and connections.
Hong Kong’s BTC association pushes ‘Bitcoin tram’ ad campaign
The Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong has launched a massive Bitcoin ad campaign to promote crypto awareness and education. Three double decker trams that are covered in Bitcoin ads will be cruising one of the world’s leading global financial centres, accompanied by 20 billboards with a matching message: "Be your own bank".
Brave browser now protects you from crypto phishing scams
Privacy-oriented browser Brave has announced the addition of a new anti-phishing solution to its in-browser Crypto Wallets. This open-source technology from PhishFort will detect crypto scams and suspicious domains that will immediately alert users of any murky activities.
eToro, BlockFi & Nexo capitalise on Brave ads for ‘unmatched engagement’
Crypto businesses, eToro, BlockFi and Nexo have gained huge customer engagement and revenue growth by using Brave Ads. This comes as no surprise as most of Brave’s users are crypto supporters. What's also interesting is that the only non-crypto business that achieved similar success on Brave Ads was underwear company Culprit.
Crypto.com eclipses Tesla with Bitcoin sweepstakes and discounts
Crypto.com, a provider of cryptocurrency debit cards and trading services, has run a series of marketing promotions, including discounts, referrals and sweepstakes, to encourage people to collect its CRO coins. The results showed a more than 700% increase in market value that now stands at around $3.4 billion.
This crypto startup takes Bitcoin advocacy to a whole new level
Patrick Stanley, Blockstack’s former head of growth, has launched a new crypto community development company called Freehold. The model rewards new users in Bitcoin for studying, sharing educational resources and saving in their own crypto wallets, as a new way of promoting Bitcoin and improving crypto advocacy.
Henkel sponsors wellness web series distributed via blockchain
Laundry and home care company Henkel is sponsoring the wellness web series 'At Home With Jennifer'. "So what?" you might think, but the interesting bit is that the show will be distributed by blockchain company Blockboard in order to provide "transparency and trust" for media buyers and sellers.
AdLedger announces first-ever OTT video ad deployment leveraging blockchain
AdLedger published a report from its first CryptoRTB pilot, which involved over-the-top (OTT) ad solutions companies MadHive and Beachfront. The results seemed to suggest that CryptoRTB eliminated domain spoofing, protected consumer data from fraudsters and provided complete privacy across all video platforms and screens
New blockchain program aims to counter fake viewer data and scam ads
Decentralized video delivery network Theta is collaborating with smart contract platform Chainlink to fight fake viewer data and scams advertised in video ads. This solution uses Google’s big data solution - BigQuery - to generate a “reputation score” which will be assigned to each streamer based on their viewership.
Permission.io has quietly raised $50M to make advertising personal and data private
Permission.io is a provider of permission-based advertising for eCommerce that rewards users with ASK tokens that can be used to buy various products that are advertised on the platform. Over the past year, the company has raised more than $50M through equity financing and a token pre-sale, and they already have over 450,000 users.
Features and Interviews
Maria Bustillos on tokenizing journalism, the death of Civil and rise of Brick House
Maria Bustillos, an early supporter of the now defunct media startup Civil, is taking another try with decentralized journalism by being one of the founding members of Brick House - a writer-owned media collective. In this in-depth interview, she shared powerful insights on why she continues to support blockchain-powered journalism.
Blockchain advertising company: Interview with Gauthier Bros, CEO of Atayen, Inc
This is a great interview with Atayen Inc. founder and CEO Gauthier Bros, in which he outlines all we wanted to know about SaTT (smart advertising transaction token), a cryptocurrency and blockchain advertising platform that facilitates ad transactions via a smart contract.
Cracking crypto social media marketing - an overview
As the title suggests, this article is a great run through of all the social media channels that should be used for crypto advertising. It includes details about why Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora and Reddit are better than YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, as well as looking at what the most effective social media strategies for crypto businesses are.
Industry Opinions
Jack Dorsey still thinks Bitcoin is the strongest contender for an internet-native currency
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey remains committed to Bitcoin and has highlighted how it is "important to focus on improving users’ experience of Bitcoin in order to foster its widespread adoption." He also identifies blockchain as the key solution for the challenges that Twitter faces as a centralised platform.
Jack Dorsey says Bitcoin and blockchain will shape Twitter's future
Jack Dorsey has continued to praise blockchain by calling it a “trusted system in a distrusted environment” at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2020. He says he is determined to build Twitter as an open, decentralized social network where “content exists forever” and has already formed a team called BlueSky to make this transition possible.
5 reasons why blockchain can’t solve the Social Dilemma
Following Netflix's 'The Social Dilemma' documentary, this article tries to dissect why blockchain is not the right platform for consumers to manage their data. We might not agree with all the points made but there are some valid ones, such as whether current blockchain technology can really keep up with social data.
And Finally…
OneCoin: A deep dive into crypto’s most notorious Ponzi scheme
OneCoin cofounder Konstantin Ignatov was dismissed from a civil class action lawsuit after agreeing to testify against his sister Ruja Ignatova,a leader and face of the most notorious Ponzi scheme in the crypto. Following this unexpected event, Cointelegraph decided to cover the whole story behind one of the biggest financial frauds in history.