The cryptocurrency market is starting to see a juxtaposition in the ways the digital coinage is currently being used and how crypto is being marketed to the masses—a divergence that is leading to backlash for a brand backed by marketing from Spike Lee.

The Academy Award winner stars and directs a new commercial for ATM operator Coin Cloud that debuted this week.  In the spot, Lee, known for directing films like “Malcolm X” and “Do the Right Thing,” paints cryptocurrency as accessible to everyone—an equalizer or “the digital rebellion” against a financial system that has historically oppressed people of color and women. He is joined by actor and activist Kendrick Sampson, Ru Paul’s Drag Race contestant Shangela and musician and singer Teyana Taylor.

In the two-minute spot from Campbell Ewald, Lee states: “Old money is not going to pick us up—it pushes us down, exploits, and systematically oppresses. The digital rebellion is here. Old money is out, new money is in.”

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While the ad sets an optimistic tone about the use of cryptocurrency, it’s not going over well with viewers who say the current state of usage—in a category majority made up of white wealthy men—is anything but inclusive and has the potential to do more harm to disadvantaged people than good.

On social media and in negative press coverage, people are bashing the spot as hypocritical. Yes, cryptocurrency sits on a decentralized blockchain, but those blockchains are being powered by wealthy white men and instances of scams are widespread, critics say. Advocates counter that cryptocurrency has the power to turn economic disparities to shining examples of wealth democratization. Still, while there’s much potential, there’s also evidence that in developing countries, efforts are resembling age-old colonial projects.  

The spot is running on TV channels nationally and Roku, as well as digital channels like YouTube and Reddit. The timing could not have been worse. On the same day the spot launched, the creator of Dogecoin, Jackson Palmer, shared a heated Twitter thread in which he denounces the very form of money he helped create and popularize, calling it “an inherently right-wing, hyper-capitalistic technology built primarily to amplify the wealth of its proponents.”

“Despite claims of ‘decentralization,’ the cryptocurrency industry is controlled by a powerful cartel of wealthy figures who, with time, have evolved to incorporate many of the same institutions tied to the existing centralized financial system they supposedly set out to replace,” he writes, adding that he will no longer discuss cryptocurrency. “Cryptocurrency is like taking the worst parts of today’s capitalist system (eg. Corruption, fraud, inequality) and using software to technically limit the use of interventions (eg. Audits, regulation, taxation) which serve as protections or safety nets for the average person,” he goes on to write in the thread.

People were quick to compare the new Spike Lee ad with Palmer’s commentary, pointing out the disparity.

A recent 2021 survey from cryptocurrency exchange Gemini looked at the crypto habits of 3,000 U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 65 with $40,000 or more in household income. The report found that the average cryptocurrency owner is a 38-year-old male whose yearly salary is $111,000. The study also found that 74% of those who own crypto are men, and 71% are white.

Coin Cloud itself has mostly a white leadership board, something not lost on the ad’s critics. Amondo Redmond, global chief marketing officer at Coin Cloud, and a Black man, was hired five months ago from First Entertainment Credit Union.

The backlash is something Redmond says he expected and is encouraging.

“We knew this wouldn't hit without a spark, so we purposely designed this campaign to challenge the conversation around wealth, how its built and who can access it,” he said in a statement to Ad Age. “The industry is nascent, but it is our aim to make the conversation accessible and equitable out of the gate—this is why we partnered Spike Lee. We chose to challenge the status quo—not make a light touch, humorous infomercial. No one is tackling the message of education and accessibility. As a global CMO, who is Black, I'm applying my life and career experience to have these conversations with authenticity and respect.”

Much of the backlash is around the dangers that can arise from investing in and owning cryptocurrency, something only the wealthy and privileged really have the space and time to control. The volatility of the coinage has produced a market whirlwind over the past year. In April, Bitcoin and Ethereum fees hit a high, but the next month their value dropped by 93%. Whether democratized money can really be an equalizer or whether it just helps the white man get wealthier is an argument echoed with other new forms of financial services, such as Robinhood’s investing tool.

Acting on the commercial’s instructive to “Do your own research,” one Twitter user did just that and pointed to the high fees that occur from Coin Cloud ATM withdrawals and deposits.

In the spot, Lee also references a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation study that found that 7.1 million households do not have bank accounts and 20 million are underbanked. While a lack of trust in banks and desire for more privacy are reasons people state for not opening accounts, 49% of those surveyed said one of the reasons why they didn’t own a bank account was that they didn’t meet the minimum balance requirement.

“If someone is unable to afford a bank account, it’s not clear why the solution is to get them to buy a volatile asset like a cryptocurrency,” writes journalist Edward Ongweso Jr. in a piece for Vice about the new commercial. Ongweso also points out that the commercial seems to contradict its own messaging at times, showing white businessmen taking out crypto on Coin Cloud ATMs.  

Several people also point out the irony that in the spot Lee is dressed as the swindler Hill Henry from the musical the “The Music Man,” or the cartoon equivalent of the monorail man from “The Simpsons.” Questions about what Lee himself was paid to be in the commercial also came up, with many betting that it was “old money.”

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Celeb effect

Lee's ad is the latest example of a brand turning to a celebrity to take cryptocurrency more mainstream. Neil Patrick Harris is appearing in a TV ad for Bitcoin ATM operator CoinFlip, Alec Baldwin shared crypto knowledge in online ads for crypto trading platform eToro and Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen recently signed on as ambassadors for crypto exchange FTX.

"Overall, with the market still very unregulated and the SEC struggling to crack down on promotional activity, it’s going to fall to consumers to remain vigilant when they see celebrities promoting crypto projects," says Justin Kline, CEO and managing director at infleuncer marketing agency Markerly. “Young people in particular are captive audiences for celebrity endorsements and vulnerable to the hype that can surround crypto markets. Without proper education and regulations in place, it can be easy to forget that you are essentially gambling on these projects and could stand to lose a lot of money if you don’t take the time to look into a project that a celebrity is endorsing.”