Fed never did it: US Senate Banking head lashes out at Super Bowl crypto ads

Published at: Feb. 16, 2022

The Super Bowl advertisements by crypto companies including Coinbase, FTX, and several others ruled the social media and news headlines for their out-of-the-box approach. However, The United States Senate Banking Committee chief Sherrod Brown was not impressed and blasted the ad-makers for not including appropriate warnings and risks involved.

Brown, during the Tuesday Senate hearing on stablecoins, brought in the topic of popular crypto advertisements that aired during the Super Bowl. He said most of these ads failed to tell people about the downsides of investing in cryptocurrencies. The companies failed to mention the wild price swings and prevalent scams that occur in the market or the fact that the crypto market is not as well regulated as the traditional ones.

Super Bowl advertisement slots are one of the most popular as well as most expensive ones where companies such as Coinbase and FTX paid nearly $20 million for a 30-sec ad slot.

Brown lashed out at the crypto companies claiming they are just trying to make big profits and reaching out to as many Americans as they can. He also said that if crypto is the money as many of these companies claim, why do they need to spurge millions to promote it. He said:

“The fact that these companies felt the need to advertise at all is a bit of a giveaway about one of their major claims – if this were actually meant to be used as currency, why would you need to buy ads? I’ve never seen the Federal Reserve buy a multimillion-dollar commercial for U.S. dollars.”

The crypto community on Twitter was not very pleased with the senate banking head’s take on crypto ads as one user wrote:

"As if 'fiat' currencies have never had issues with transparency, use illegality, being untraceable, used worldwide in criminal ways, and the like. Fear-uncertainty-doubt rules the day for some."

Another user recommended a more detailed education on cryptocurrencies:

“Sounds like Sen. Sherrod Brown needs a crypto education. BrianBrooksUS, time to make another house call.”

The Tuesday Senate hearing saw Brown also advocate against Stablecoin claiming it endangers the economy and hard-earned money of Americans. However, New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer introduced a new legislature for governed insured stablecoins quite similar to fiat deposits.