Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, released a new Binance Emoji on Twitter that users noticed bore a striking resemblance to a swastika. On Wednesday morning, Binance CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao retweeted Binance’s original post, adding “#binance” to show off the new emoji. The original posts, which have since been deleted, were quick to do the rounds on Twitter in the form of screenshots, where users immediately began criticizing the resemblance. The new Binance emoji is a literal swastika pic.twitter.com/lCOuWuPnyF — mann0000.eth (@nftshare) April 20, 2022 Smaller Twitter account Nftshare posted about it to their 300 followers, which gained more …

Nonfungible token (NFT) investment giant Animoca Brands has acquired a significant stake in the Australian digital marketing agency Be Media. Be Media has locations in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney and has provided Web2 firms with advertising and digital strategy since 2013. While the company isn’t geared toward the crypto sector, the investment seems to be a part of Animoca’s immediate aim to “shepherd companies into Web3.” According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Be Media will be tasked with seeking out partnerships with top Australian Brands relating to Animoca’s various blockchain-focused initiatives such as NFTs and launching an “open Metaverse.” …

Neal Stevenson’s Snow Crash, a techno-dystopian science-fiction novel that has become a legend among Silicon Valley tech bros, predicted the rise of a future Metaverse all the way back in 1992. Despite Stephenson saying that he was “just making sh*t up”, the eerily accurate predictions and worldbuilding of Snow Crash have been long-revered by tech entrepreneurs and futurists including Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Now, Stephenson’s striking fictional depictions of a Metaverse oversaturated with the neon glow of commercial advertising rings truer than ever as Web3 designers and marketers gear up to begin advertising in the Metaverse(s) of today. On …

Super Bowl commercials have always been an intrinsic part of the annual National Football League (NFL) championship and for business, a fair sign of making it in the real world. This year, however, marked a new milestone for the crypto community as FTX, eToro, Crypto.com and Coinbase debuted crypto ads in Super Bowl 2022. With rising demand in crypto — recently fueled by nonfungible tokens (NFT), meme tokens and the Metaverse — Super Bowl crypto ads stole the limelight from traditional businesses on social media platforms like Twitter. Let’s gauge into the advertisements and echo the feelings expressed by the …

From NFL players accepting their salaries in cryptocurrency and Tom Brady founding his own NFT marketplace to the NFL providing Super Bowl attendees with customized NFTs, the National Football League and the blockchain community seem to have embraced each other. As Super Bowl LVI approaches this Sunday, there is one thing fans can be sure to expect: crypto ads. One marketing campaign led by Binance, the largest global exchange by trading volume, warns fans about taking these anticipated crypto commercials to heart, and uses celebrities to make its point. Last week, Binance released its first video featuring Miami Heat Forward …

Crypto.com's native cryptocurrency CRO hit an all-time high of $0.593 on Nov. 18 after the company won the naming rights to Los Angeles's Staples Center. The cryptocurrency trading platform announced Tuesday night that it had paid $700 million to the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to rename Staples Center to Crypto.com for the next twenty years. In doing so, it gained links with the downtown arena's native sports franchises, including NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, and National Hockey League's Kings franchise. The deal should boost Crypto.com's public awareness, and this prompted traders to raise their bids for CRO, an intermediary settlement …

The road to the adoption of blockchain and crypto in the marketing industry is a long and winding road. But make no mistake about it: Transformation is well on its way and the road will soon turn to a highway. As someone who has been a creative director, agency owner/partner, strategic planner, chief marketing officer for fintech startups and an entrepreneur, I’ve seen the marketing industry from multiple vantage points. What’s common in marketing revolutions? And while every so-called “marketing revolution” takes a somewhat different path, there are many commonalities. First of all, marketing agencies will get ahead of the …

The Canadian Securities Administrators, or CSA, and Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, or IIROC, have issued guidelines for crypto trading platforms operating in the country to avoid “advertising and marketing materials that could mislead investors.” In a Thursday publication, the Canadian regulators’ guidelines warn crypto companies not to advertise “gambling style” promotions in which an investor is encouraged to sign up within a given time limit to take advantage of a reward or opportunity. Though the guidance was seemingly vague on restrictions concerning social media posts, the regulators recommended trading platforms designate an individual to review and approve communications …

Kate Rouch will be joining major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase after more than 11 years in various positions at Facebook. In a Thursday blog post, Coinbase chief operating officer Emilie Choi said the company had hired Rouch as its new chief marketing officer, responsible for overseeing the exchange’s global brand, as well as product and performance marketing. Until recently, she was the global head of brand and product marketing at social media giant Facebook, but now aims “to bring millions more people into the cryptoeconomy.” “I am so inspired by what I’ve learned about crypto, and the vast ecosystem it is …

American manufactured meat company Oscar Mayer is auctioning off a one-of-one pack of “Hot Doge Wieners” on eBay. The limited-edition pack of Dogecoin-themed wieners includes 10 sausages and a picture of the beloved Shiba Inu dog on the packaging, along with the “cash equivalent” of 10,000 Dogecoin (DOGE). The auction is set to close on Saturday, however, the listing has been temporarily taken down, with the firm noting on Twitter today that “you guys really took this to the moon. The link is down but will be up soon!” During the initial hours of bidding, Redditors in the r/dogecoin community …

The Blockfolio brand is no more: One of the first genuine product brands in the cryptocurrency space, the mobile app that started as a portfolio tracker — and later morphed into a trading app under the stewardship of FTX — will now take its new owner's name. Blockfolio, which boasted a user base in excess of six million crypto enthusiasts, was acquired by Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX Trading company in August 2020 in a deal worth $150 million. Related: Billionaire SBF says FTX may one day buy Goldman Sachs and CME “The rebrand of FTX: Blockfolio to FTX puts the final …

A new artist-focused NFT trading platform has unveiled a $20 million fund to help artists tokenize and sell their works. In the first week since launch, Revival NFT Marketplace has exploded in popularity, achieving total weekly transaction volumes of $1 million. The first artist to be featured on Revival was Edison Zhang, a well-known Chinese street artist, muralist, and graphic designer. The NFT of his artwork Crowded sold for 255 million LOL tokens — equivalent to $71,135. Another, The Beauty and Pain of Pangolin, sold for almost one million IOST. The IOST-powered Revival NFT platform has been built to be …