UK ad watchdog bans Coinbase campaign for trivializing crypto investment risks

U.K.’s advertising watchdog has banned a Coinbase campaign that allegedly downplayed the risks of crypto investing and touted the exchange as a solution to the country’s cost-of-living crisis.

According to the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority, the advertisements were deemed “irresponsible” and “trivialized the risks of cryptocurrency,” The Guardian reported on Wednesday.

Coinbase first released the two-minute ad in July last year, with the video featuring satirical musical scenes of cheerful citizens singing slogans like “everything is just fine, everything is grand,” as their homes fall into disrepair and suffer power outages against the backdrop of a city littered with overflowing bins and rats.

The video ends with a cut to the line “If everything’s fine, don’t change anything” before transitioning to the Coinbase logo.

“We considered that using humour to reference serious financial concerns, alongside a cue to ‘change,’ risked presenting complex, high-risk financial products as an easy or obvious response to those concerns,” the ASA told Coinbase’s global advisory council.

The advertisement had already been rejected by Clearcast, the body responsible for vetting TV commercials in the U.K., on grounds that it presented crypto as a “potential solution to economic challenges, without sufficient evidence for this claim.”

However, the ASA said it was still widely circulated online across multiple platforms, alongside three posters that were displayed in high-traffic areas such as the London Underground and rail stations.

Further, the ASA said the ads failed to include any risk warnings, especially given that the Financial Conduct Authority has mandated that crypto promotions must be labeled with prominent risk disclosures.

A Coinbase spokesperson defended the campaign, stating that the video was intended to “provoke discussion about the state of the financial system and the need to consider better futures” and not to offer simplistic solutions or mislead viewers.

“While we respect the ASA’s decision, we fundamentally disagree with the characterisation of a campaign that critically reflects widely reported economic conditions as socially irresponsible,” the spokesperson said, adding that Coinbase believes “responsible adoption can play a constructive role in a more efficient and freer financial system.”

The Advertising Standards Authority has a long history of clamping down on crypto-related promotions it deems misleading and has banned similar campaigns from other platforms in the past.

Crypto exchange Coinfloor was among the first to see its ads pulled, including one featuring a pensioner’s testimonial, which the regulator said at the time violated the country’s advertising code and misled a particular target audience.

Subsequently, in 2022, the ASA took down Facebook ads promoting non-fungible tokens run by Crypto.com and Turtle United for failing to adequately outline the risks involved.

Regulators like the Financial Conduct Authority are working on finalizing a framework for cryptocurrencies in the country. However, the cautious stance taken by U.K. authorities has coincided with a noticeable drop in retail crypto ownership, which fell from 12% in 2024 to 8% in 2025.