Coinbase to Air Multiple Ads on CBS’s Face the Nation, Wants to Reach Policymakers and DC Insiders

All four ads, one of which already ran this past Sunday, feature Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong

article-image

Ahmed Zaggoudi/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Coinbase launched a nationwide advertising campaign on Sunday, commencing in Washington, DC, with a spot on CBS’s Face the Nation. A representative from Coinbase told Blockworks that the campaign aims to influence policymakers in the nation’s capital on the importance of cryptocurrency.

In the nearly two minute, black and white ad, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong argues that while crypto is in its “early days,” it will update our financial systems and “create more economic freedom in the world.”

Armstrong announced the campaign via Twitter. He said that there will be four ads total, with the first one having aired Sunday. Coinbase will premier subsequent ads each weekend on Face the Nation, according to the representative.

There’s lots “of policy work to do to ensure America isn’t left behind,” Armstrong tweeted. 

Armstrong highlighted two of crypto’s existing use cases in an attempt to reach a new audience with a message of practicality.

One example he mentioned was using crypto to send money to family members residing in other countries. Coinbase said in April that Americans spend over $12 billion a year in fees when sending remittances and argued that sending money via bitcoin or ethereum would be dramatically cheaper.

Armstrong also said crypto “can be a new way for artists to get paid and have a direct relationship with their fans.”

With music streaming giant Spotify only paying $0.003 and $0.005 per stream, according to a 2020 Business Insider piece, artists have been looking for ways to better monetize their craft. Selling music as NFTs and NFT gating seem to be avenues artists and Web3 creators are beginning to go down. 

Armstrong finished the ad by hinting at the regulatory environment in the US, which Coinbase has been fighting for years. In an April mandamus petition, Coinbase demanded the SEC provide clear guidelines on which digital assets are securities. The SEC denied the action, saying the agency will take as much time as it needs and that Coinbase has no right to mandamus. 

Coinbase filed another writ of mandamus in response to the SEC Tuesday.

“What I fear is that we’re going to be sitting here in five or 10 years, and we’re going to come back to crypto and think about it like we did with 5G or semiconductors, and say, ‘Wow, now it’s a matter of national security that we get it brought back on shore,’” Armstrong said.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

An overview of the Base Ecosystem, with a focus on market leaders.

article-image

Although bitcoin hitting $120k by year’s end is looking unlikely

article-image

About 270 million HYPE has been claimed, valued around $7.6 billion

article-image

Stanford professors David Mazières and Dan Boneh will lead the lab alongside a cohort of graduate student researchers

article-image

With more companies holding BTC, bitcoin yielding strategies could become “a new corporate finance norm,” CoinShares posed

article-image

The proposal comes after Polygon governance considered a controversial use of bridged liquidity for yield

article-image

Can the community balance its decentralized ethos with the need for inclusivity and constructive debate?