Ad description
A Video on Demand (VOD) ad and three posters for Coinbase, a cryptocurrency trading platform, seen in August 2025:
a. The VOD ad featured several working adults singing a satirical, upbeat song about difficulties and concerns in their everyday lives, such as being unable to own their home, increases in the cost of living, and losing their job. In spite of each concern, they danced cheerily and sang “everything is just fine”.
The characters were shown in a number of scenes, including a family home which was in a state of disrepair and experienced a powercut, a high street which had several closed shops and was littered with binbags and rats, and a supermarket with several signs indicating prices had increased. As the ad progressed, a sewage pipe burst and the characters continued to sing and dance in the high street whilst a seemingly wealthy couple in a convertible car sang that they were leaving the country for Dubai. During the song’s crescendo, large text which read “IF EVERYTHING’S FINE DON’T CHANGE ANYTHING” appeared on screen. When the song ended, the text was replaced with the Coinbase logo.
b. The first poster featured a large amount of small white text on a blue background. The text repeated the words “EVERYTHING IS FINE”. Negative space within the white text revealed the words “HOME OWNERSHIP OUT OF REACH” in large letters. The bottom of the poster included further white text “IF EVERYTHING’S FINE DON’T CHANGE ANYTHING” next to the Coinbase logo.
c. The second poster featured the same white text and logo as ad (b), with negative space within the small white text revealing the words “EGGS NOW OUT OF BUDGET”.
d. The third poster featured the same white text and logo as ads (b) and (c), with negative space within the small white text revealing the words “REAL WAGES STUCK IN 2008”.
Issue
Thirty-five complainants challenged whether the ads were irresponsible because they trivialised the risks of cryptocurrency and implied it was a solution to prevalent financial concerns.
Response
CB Payments Ltd t/a Coinbase did not believe the ads were irresponsible. They highlighted that they were the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the UK registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who published research in 2024 (updated in March 2025) which showed that consumer awareness and ownership of cryptocurrency had increased. They believed that consumers had become more informed about cryptocurrency in recent years, and as a result, some of the concerns the ASA had raised about cryptocurrency advertising in the past were now less relevant.
Coinbase believed that cryptoasset businesses were distinct from industries with inherent potential societal harms such as alcohol, tobacco and gambling, which the ASA provided specific guidance on. They referenced HM Treasury’s 2023 response to a proposal by the Treasury Select Committee, which disagreed with a recommendation that retail trading and investment activity in cryptocurrency should be regulated as gambling.
Coinbase said that the ads were easily understood by consumers. The VOD ad was purposely and obviously exaggerated for entertainment purposes, but highlighted real and common experiences in the UK. They believed it was reasonable to assume that consumers would view the ad as satirical. They stated using humour to draw attention to negative circumstances was not irresponsible, and was a method commonly used in advertising campaigns.
Coinbase said the ads did not encourage socially irresponsible behaviour as they did not contain any calls to action. The ads were intended to be thought provoking and highlighted publicly reported economic hardships experienced by many consumers. They did not explicitly or implicitly suggest any specific solution to the highlighted problems. The main characters in the VOD ad were depicted as being financially stable and not inherently vulnerable.
Coinbase stated the phrase “If everything’s fine don’t change anything” was not a claim of any kind, but a tagline that related to the humorous nature of the ads and did not offer any solution. They believed consumers would understand the clause “if everything’s fine” to mean that financial hardships, such as the rising cost of living, were real problems facing many people. The second clause “don’t change anything” would provoke thought about whether systemic changes could impact wider economic issues. They did not believe a reasonable consumer would understand the phrase to mean that cryptocurrency or Coinbase could solve individual financial hardship. The Coinbase logo was included in the ads to inform consumers that they were a brand that identified issues with the current financial system, and wanted to explore alternative solutions.
Coinbase did not believe the ads trivialised the risks of cryptocurrency. They highlighted that their on-boarding process included an appropriateness assessment and 24-hour cooling off period. Static risk warnings were displayed on the Coinbase website and app before and after consumers signed up to the service, and an additional risk warning about the risks associated with trading in or holding cryptocurrency was included in their User Agreement.
Assessment
Upheld
The ads all featured the phrase “If everything’s fine, don’t change anything”, accompanied by references to various common financial issues, such as the rise in the cost of living and difficulties associated with buying your own home. The ASA understood that the rising cost of living had been widely reported in the British media, and considered that many consumers were likely to relate to, and be worried about, the financial concerns highlighted in the ads. In that context, we considered consumers would understand the phrase “If everything’s fine, don’t change anything” to be a sarcastic phrase referring to widespread economic issues which suggested that if they were dissatisfied with their financial circumstances, they should consider an alternative to traditional financial institutions. Because the ads referenced and parodied prevalent financial concerns, we considered that consumers would understand the phrase to be intended to mean that in reality, everything was not fine. By presenting the country as failing in areas such as the cost of living and home ownership, the ads implied to consumers that they should make a financial change. The ads immediately paired the phrase “If everything’s fine, don’t change anything” with Coinbase’s logo. We considered this had the effect of positioning Coinbase as an alternative to traditional financial systems, and implying that Coinbase could be part of the solution to the financial problems stated in the ads.
However, we understood that investment and trading activity in cryptocurrency was complex and involved significant risk. We acknowledged the general public was becoming more familiar with cryptocurrency, but considered that the majority of consumers were still unlikely to have an in-depth understanding of how cryptocurrencies worked. Whilst the FCA research cited by Coinbase suggested that 93 per cent of UK adults had heard of cryptoassets, it highlighted that only 12 per cent owned them. It also stated that cryptocurrency was largely unregulated and high risk, and that buyers should be prepared to lose all of their money. Cryptocurrency was therefore unlikely to be suitable for all consumers, especially those experiencing financial difficulties such as those referenced in the ads.
We acknowledged that ad (a) was satirical, and consumers were likely to understand that some of the financial hardships depicted in the ad had been exaggerated for humorous effect. Nevertheless, they were based on real financial concerns which many consumers would have lived experience of. 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. We further considered that the mediums in which the ads were seen were likely to have a broad reach – the VOD ad was seen on multiple platforms, and the poster ads were seen in high-traffic areas such as London underground and rail stations. It was therefore likely that many consumers experiencing the financial issues referenced in the ads would see them, and be vulnerable to the implication that Coinbase and cryptocurrency could address their financial concerns.
Because the ads implied that cryptocurrency could be an alternative to the prevalent financial concerns associated with the cost of living, we considered that they trivialised the risks associated with cryptocurrency investment. We therefore concluded the ads were irresponsible.
The ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 (Social responsibility).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told CB Payments Ltd t/a Coinbase to ensure their ads did not irresponsibly trivialise the risks of cryptocurrency, or imply it was a solution to prevalent financial concerns.
