Coinbase adverts banned in UK for suggesting crypto could ease cost of living crisis
A cryptocurrency company advised by George Osborne has been banned from showing a set of adverts that suggested using its services could be a solution to the cost of living crisis.Coinbase, which appointed the former Conservative chancellor to chair its global advisory council last year, has been told by the UK’s advertising watchdog that its adverts were “irresponsible” and “trivialised the risks of cryptocurrency”.The adverts from the US crypto exchange include a sarcastic two-minute video showing people singing “everything is just fine, everything is grand” as their home falls into a state of disrepair and suffers a power cut, while outside Britons cheerfully dance through streets littered with rats and piles of overflowing bin bags.As the ad progresses, a shopper faces rising prices for fish fingers in a supermarket, white-collar workers lose their jobs, a sewage pipe bursts and rubbish falls from the sky.The clip ends with large text saying: “If everything’s fine, don’t change anything”, before being replaced with the Coinbase logo.
The company, which was founded in 2012, provides a platform for people to buy and sell various cryptocurrencies,The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the advertising campaign, which launched in August, implied that using Coinbase could be an alternative to the financial concerns associated with the cost of living, and so trivialised the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies,“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,” it said,Osborne was appointed in December to run Coinbase’s global advisory council to assist with the company’s lobbying in the UK and EU, having already been an adviser to the company for the past two years,The company’s chief policy officer at the time said Osborne would play an “active role in helping us with policymakers around the world”.
Last August, the former Tory MP had written a column in the Financial Times warning that the UK has been left behind in the cryptocurrency boom and is in danger of missing a second wave of demand.The former politician last month added a role at ChatGPT developer OpenAI to his portfolio of positions, which also includes being the chair of the British Museum and a co-host of a podcast with the former Labour minister Ed Balls.Three posters from Coinbase were also banned by the ASA, which in large letters stated: “Home ownership out of reach,” as well as “real wages stuck in 2008” and “eggs now out of budget”.Small white background text read: “Everything is fine”repeatedly.The bottom of the poster said: “If everything’s fine, don’t change anything” next to the Coinbase logo.
Neither the video nor the posters contained any information about the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies, the ASA said, despite the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority warning that cryptocurrency is “largely unregulated and high risk, and that buyers should be prepared to lose all of their money”,The video advert by Coinbase had already been banned from television by Clearcast, which approves television ads in the UK, but the ASA said it had been shown on multiple online platforms, while the posters had been displayed in “high-traffic areas such as the London Underground and rail stations”,A spokesperson for Coinbase said: “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 advert was intended to provoke discussion about the state of the financial system and the need to consider better futures, not to offer simplistic solutions or minimise risk,“While digital assets are not a panacea, we believe their responsible adoption can play a constructive role in a more efficient and freer financial system.
Coinbase remains committed to authentic, thought-provoking communication and to operating responsibly within the UK’s regulatory framework.”
Brook’s ‘Stone Cold’ celebration in England series win as Root praises ‘great leader’
The wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was the surprising inspiration for Harry Brook’s century celebration as the England white-ball captain led his side to a one-day international series victory against Sri Lanka with a thrilling, unbeaten 136.Brook, who was involved in a clash with a nightclub bouncer on the tour of New Zealand earlier this winter, took his gloves off upon reaching his hundred and imitated Austin’s move of bashing beer cans together in the ring before drinking them.“I think you can work it out if you’ve ever watched wrestling,” said Joe Root, who hit his 20th ODI century to set up England’s innings, with Brook joining him in the 32nd over. “I think that’s his way of doing that, trying to show that he wants that approval from the group. It’s through humour
Everton in line to host Fiji ‘home’ match against England in Nations Championship
Everton have been offered the chance to host England’s Nations Championship game against Fiji in July at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in what would be their first match in England held away from Twickenham since 2019.The 11 July Test against Fiji is an away fixture for England in their second game of the inaugural Nations Championship after they face South Africa in Johannesburg the previous week. However, the host union wants to move it to a neutral venue to maximise the revenue they receive from gate receipts.Steve Borthwick’s side had originally been scheduled to play Fiji in South Africa before travelling to Argentina to play the Pumas for their final summer fixture on 18 July, but the Fiji Rugby Union is understood to have asked permission from the Nations Championship organisers to switch it to England.World Rugby, the Six Nations and Sanzaar have all given their blessing on the proviso that the game is not held at England’s home ground of Twickenham for integrity reasons
England beat Sri Lanka by 53 runs to win third men’s ODI and series – as it happened
Harry Brook’s first masterpiece of the winter, lost in defeat, seems an age ago. It was in his side’s first one-day international against New Zealand back in October, his 101-ball 135 somehow landing in the middle of nine single-figure England scores.The nightclub bouncer’s punch followed, the Ashes tour went wrong and then came the reveal of the former. A lot has happened, but moments of genius in the middle always lurk close by when it comes to Brook. Here, in their final ODI of the winter, he brought it all together with an unbeaten 136 off 66 balls, taking England to a prized series victory in Sri Lanka, the decider won by 53 runs
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Harry Brook’s first masterpiece of the winter, lost in defeat, seems an age ago. It was in his side’s first one-day international against New Zealand back in October, his 101-ball 135 somehow landing in the middle of nine single-figure England scores.The nightclub bouncer’s punch followed, the Ashes tour went wrong and then came the reveal of the former. A lot has happened, but moments of genius in the middle always lurk close by when it comes to Brook. Here, in their final ODI of the winter, he brought it all together with an unbeaten 136 off 66 balls, taking England to a prized series victory in Sri Lanka, the decider won by 53 runs
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