BTC is revolutionary, but will Hollywood celebrities promote it?

No organization or startup or individual, presently in the business of products and services, requires an introductory class in the power of advertisements. Let me give you a powerful example.

Now the question to ask (since I should be talking about crypto) is, why haven’t these A-listers starting promoting our beloved Bitcoin or any other crypto-asset? And what will happen if one day they do?

Since the first television commercials in 1941 for Bulova watches, (FYI, it cost $9 to make that ad), endorsements have evolved drastically over the years. However, we will be not be going back in time like Bill Murray; instead, we’ll focus only on the last decade since that is when cryptocurrencies came into existence.

Over the past 10 years, advertisements and endorsements have largely been based on online platforms or what we call ‘Social Media.’ Television commercials are still relevant no doubt, but ads on Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram reach a wider and more impressional audience. However, as the aforementioned example illustrates, the inclusion of celebrities and high profile personalities is still key.

However, before day-dreaming about Kylie Jenner sharing a tweet with #BitcoinisBae on Twitter, we need to understand the market these celebrities mostly cater too.

Millennials and Gen-Z; Are they as receptive as they seem? In order to answer this question, let’s take into consideration an analysis carried out recently by Morning Consult.

Now, the study suggested that 72% of Gen Zers and Millennials followed an influencer or celebrity, while 23% claimed to follow “many,” while 49% claimed to just follow “some.”

Further, the report found that 88% of Gen Zers and Millennials discovered products they were interested in buying through social media, while a significant 55% purchased a product after seeing their favorite celebrity or influencer share a post about it.

Before we begin to assess how beneficial or undesirable it would be for famous celebs, let’s quickly wrap up how it will be good for crypto.

There is only one answer - Crazy adoption! Consider this - Bitcoin, at the time of writing, had roughly 30 million non-zero addresses. If tomorrow, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson goes on Instagram and tells his 180 million followers to try out a Bitcoin wallet, at least half of them might probably consider doing it!

If 10 percent of his total followers become active users and start utilizing crypto, that is an additional 18 million addresses in one shot, and that is only one celebrity promotion.

Now, let us consider the benefits these popular individuals would receive if they promote crypto-assets. Over the top of my head, there are none! I mean, there have been certain ICO projects and coins in the past that paid famous personalities (Floyd Mayweather got paid $100,000 to promote an ICO, and it didn’t go well with the SEC), but for top dogs such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP, you wouldn’t get an Amazon gift card to promote such crypto-assets.

Therefore, the promotion bit from the celebrities’ end would have to be selfless and not out of self-interest. The likes of Lionel Messi, Robert Downey Jr., and Lebron James, if they promote Bitcoin tomorrow, would have to do it for the greater good of the future’s financial and economic structure, rather than adding few more zeroes in the bank accounts.

Promoting a cause not out of self-interest. Have you heard of any celebrity doing that lately? No? Yeah, me neither.

Now, coming to the cons, you will understand how the arguments against such endorsements completely tip the scale.

For starters, let’s go back to the Mayweather case. The legendary boxer along with music producer DJ Khaled was fined a combined $767,500 by the Securities and Exchange Commission for promoting an ICO named Centra Tech.

Without going into too many details, it was clear that regulators and lawmakers took investments in and promotion of crypto-assets seriously, with the SEC not hesitant to pursue legal action against such promotions.

Now, an argument can be made that Bitcoin and Centra Tech whatever, are definitely not at the same level but, they are playing the same field.

Other than serious and expensive legal repercussions, famous celebrities may also face the threat of tarnished reputations.

Imagine this - What if tomorrow, Selena Gomez promotes Ethereum, one of the most respected crypto-assets in the space? A fan entering the crypto-space after her promotion may end up buying some other digital token (there are over 5000 of them!) as well. Now, if that particular person loses money investing in some other shady token, human psychology dictates that people tend to blame others for their own mistakes.

Then there’s the case of crypto itself. Despite the entry of institutional investors and a more cordial and objective coverage by mainstream media, in many quarters, the cryptocurrency industry continues to operate under the pall of the Silk Road. Would celebrities risk being associated with something that has such a troubled history? Not really.