Bitcoin ETF Ads Might Appear on Facebook, Instagram, WSJ Says

Wall Street Journal’s marketing reporter Patrick Coffee indicates eccentric and alarming trends in the promo coverage of Bitcoin ETFs. The most anticipated investing products might be targeting terra incognita via mainstream social media platforms.

Facebook, Instagram might join Google Search in Bitcoin ETF advertising

Exchange-traded funds based on spot Bitcoin (BTC) are targeting “baby boomers” as a prominent part of potential audience. As the SEC green-lit BTC ETFs in the U.S., the largest social media platforms might be considering publishing their promo materials.

In his latest longread Crypto Marketers Have a New Target Audience: Your Mother, Patrick Coffee of Wall Street Journal tracks how the asset managers behind the 11 Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. are expanding their campaigns to make them visible to “boomers.” This demographic cohort includes the generation of people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom.

Due to specifics of boomers’ media consumption patterns, these captivating ad campaigns will not look like FTX promos with football legend Tom Brady and NCAA’s superstar Deshaun Highler.

For instance, VanEck demonstrated a fictional conversation where a mother asks her son about new opportunities to buy Bitcoin (BTC), while Bitwise published a promo video with Jonathan Goldsmith, the “Most Interesting Man in the World.”

However, the opportunity to run ad campaigns on mainstream social media without risks of being shadow-banned or having the account terminated is one of the most inspiring novelties for BTC ETF marketing.

While Alphabet’s Google Search and YouTube have already begun green-lighting Bitcoin ETF ads, Instagram and Facebook might join the club soon, Coffee adds.

Grayscale’s GBTC dethroned by BlackRock: First “flippening” in BTC ETFs

According to a spokesman cited by the WSJ reporter, the parent company Meta Platforms is currently updating its U.S. policies to make Bitcoin ETF promo campaigns compliant.

As covered by U.Today previously, Bitcoin ETF ads appeared in Google Search last week. This novelty is part of Google’s lifting ban on crypto advertising.

Meanwhile, the emerging segment of Bitcoin ETFs saw its first “revolution” on Feb. 2, 2024. Grayscale’s GBTC, which is the most well-known BTC-based investing product and a successor of the eponymous OTC-traded trust, saw its trading volume eclipsed by BlackRock’s IBIT.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) posted an impressive volume of $219.3 million, which is higher than that of Grayscale’s, Bitwise’s and Invesco’s products combined.