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Crypto ad spending may be down, but awareness remains critical: Experts

Though crypto television ad spending is down, crypto firms continue to see ad spending as important to keep their brands relevant during a down market.

Crypto television advertising spending has reportedly fallen off a cliff in the United States, reflecting the current state of the markets, however, that's no excuse to take a break, two crypto firms tell Cointelegraph. 

An Aug. 17 report from Bloomberg highlighted that television ad spending among the largest crypto trading firms hit the lowest mark in over a year, with only $36,000 spent in July according to ISpot, down 99.9% from $84.5 million in February.

The $84.5 million ad spend was achieved during the U.S. Superbowl period when Crypto.com, FTX US, and Coinbase splurged on high-profile ads to raise awareness of their services.

But despite the reported decline in TV ad spend, some crypto firms, such as Singapore-based digital asset management firm IDEG Limited say they continue to spend heavily on advertising to maintain brand awareness.

IDEG CIO Markus Thielen told Cointelegraph that his company has been “very conservative” in regards to its crypto investments, giving them room to get into a “very good position [...] to take advantage of this current slowdown.”

Thielen said that advertising is critical for a number of reasons, not least of which is raising brand awareness.

“We see this part of our duty to educate, give back to the community, build our brand, and provide general support.”

On the other hand, Apurva Chiranewala, general manager at Australia-based crypto investment platform Block Earner told Cointelegraph last month that the firm had dialed back its marketing efforts amid the "FUD" of the current bear market. 

However, he told Cointelegraph that his company had shifted towards efforts that involve educating the market instead.

"Instead of us paying money to un-FUD the market, we thought its better to [...] focus on building and answering questions and educating the market."

Bill Daddi told Bloomberg that if other major firms decide to advertise on TV again, their messaging would likely change. Daddi, the president of marketing agency Daddi Brand Communications, said that earlier ads focused on pushing FOMO, but that firms might shift to education as new and existing users recover from the ongoing bear market.

Related: Houston Texans becomes first NFL team to sell game suite with crypto

TV ad spending may be down, but advertising through sports partnerships is still going strong. The Financial Review reported on Aug. 10 that crypto companies like Binance Holdings, OKX, and FTX have spent over $2.4 billion on sports marketing over the past 18 months. They are spending on partnerships with sports team Man City for $12 million, and for the naming rights to an NBA sports stadium in Florida for $135 million.

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Experts reveal what Tesla’s $936M sell-off means for Bitcoin

Telsa CEO noted that the sale “should not be taken as a verdict on Bitcoin” and is “certainly open to increasing our Bitcoin holdings in the future.”

Crypto industry experts are largely unfazed by Tesla’s decision to sell 75% of its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, saying it’s a fairly typical strategy for companies to improve cash flow during economic slowdowns. 

On Wednesday, the electric vehicle manufacturer revealed that it had sold 75% of its Bitcoin holdings in Q2, adding $936 million in fiat to its balance sheet.

During a conference call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk noted that the sale “should not be taken as a verdict on Bitcoin,” explaining that the move was due to liquidity concerns given the continued Covid lockdowns in China.

“The reason we sold a bunch of our Bitcoin holdings was that we were uncertain as to when the Covid lockdowns in China would alleviate. So it was important for us to maximize our cash position.”

“We are certainly open to increasing our Bitcoin holdings in the future.”

Asked by investors during the earnings call whether he saw Bitcoin as a long-term asset, Musk said the cryptocurrency was a “sideshow to the sideshow” of Tesla’s main goal, which is “to accelerate the advent of stable energy.”

“Cryptocurrency is not something we think of a lot,” he said.

Markus Thielen, chief investment officer at Singapore-based digital asset manager IDEG told Cointelegraph that Tesla likely sold off its Bitcoin as it was “seen as a distraction from their core business.”

“I would not be surprised if Tesla keeps nibbling in Bitcoin when Bitcoin stabilizes, otherwise they would have sold 100%.”

Comparison site Finder’s share trading expert Kylie Purcell explained that the electric car manufacturer hasn’t been alone in its decision to “shore up capital in cash currencies.”

“With the world heading into an economic slowdown and possibly a recession, it’s not unusual for investors and companies to move capital away from more volatile assets into fiat currency,” she noted.

She also added that while the price of Bitcoin dipped following the announcement, there are already signs of recovery.

On Wednesday, Bitcoin’s price fell approximately 2.6% following Tesla’s announcement and has returned to $23,299 at the time of writing — tracking close to its one-month high, meaning that the crypto community may not have been too concerned by the announcement.

The muted reaction to the sale played out differently to the announcement in February last year that Telsa had scooped up $1.5 billion in BTC to add to its balance sheet and was planning on  accepting Bitcoin as payment for certain products (though this was later scrapped).

The news at the tim saw Bitcoin’s price immediately jump by almost $3,000, bringing the cryptocurrency to a new all-time high above $43,000.

Related: Bitcoin price dips under $23K after earnings report reveals Tesla sold 75% of its BTC

Swyftx’s head of strategic partnerships, Tommy Honan told Cointelegraph that Tesla’s decision to buy Bitcoin last year was “as important a moment as you can imagine for digital assets.”

“It almost gave other businesses permission to put crypto on their balance sheets and we saw a lot of big institutional investors, as well as small and mid-cap companies flood into the market from that point.”

“Musk said the sale wasn’t a verdict on Bitcoin, just a cash play, and it looks like the market has taken him at his word. Bitcoin’s price has stabilized over the last 24 hours and we’d be surprised if other big investors followed suit, especially given the current price of Bitcoin.”

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