Amid government concerns, the crypto industry has decided to go slow on advertisements. In a meeting last month, PM Modi expressed concerns about the unregulated ads. Leaders across the political parties have raised concerns about the ads promising unreal returns. But that has not stopped unicorn exchange CoinDCX from advertising.
While the number of mainstream ads was reduced, the exchange appears to have diverted the focus to influencer marketing which has lesser scrutiny and more reach among the target audience.
Bollywood actress Disha Patani recently posted an Instagram video promoting CoinDCX. A Malayalam influencer and Moj creator Ann Sindhu recently posted a video for onboarding users onto the crypto platform. “In this world, money is everything. If you have money you can get anything. All you need to do is make money, which will further beget money. How? Through CoinDCX using crypto and bitcoins. But don’t worry, it’s safe and secure. Use my code MOJ100, you can get bitcoins worth Rs 100,” Ann Sindhu who has 4 million followers on Moj said in a Malayalam video.
After the parliamentary committee meeting last month, the exchanges reached a broad consensus to have responsible advertising. The cryptocurrency category accounts for a 10-15 percent share of overall marketing spending in the influencer marketing space, as per reports.
CoinDCX co-founder Sumit Gupta heads the industry body Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), a part of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMMAI), and attended the parliamentary standing committee on finance meeting last month.
The exchange which got recently funded is under pressure to add new users to clock growth. “These exchanges do not have standard advertising practices yet, and that’s what needs to be done now,” said Kashif Raza, founder of crypto-education platform Bitinning to MoneyControl.
Apart from direct advertising, there is a lot of content online on YouTube and other social media platforms created by users on their own at the lure of referral amounts. The exchanges offer a fixed referral amount when new users onboard through a unique referral link. Referral marketing is a common tool adopted by these exchanges.
