Coinbase launches $2 million ad targeting Latino voters in US

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Coinbase launched on Thursday a $2 million ad campaign targeted toward Latino voters, the company told Reuters, as the crypto industry makes moves this U.S. election cycle to put friendly lawmakers into office.

The ad campaign comes on top of tens of millions of dollars the crypto industry has already spent in U.S. elections this year, targeting down-ballot races to defeat those pushing for more regulation.

The new ad from Coinbase aims to promote crypto alternatives to sending remittances, and features a young man who sends money to his grandmother in Mexico.

Coinbase says that while the average fee rate to send money overseas is 6.18%, it is free to send that money with USD Coin, a digital stablecoin, on Coinbase Wallet.

The ad will run on Univision during the Copa America soccer tournament on TV and digital with more investment in California and Texas, the company said. It is also targeting Washington, D.C.

“Our traditional financial system is not working for communities of color, who experience disproportionate barriers to wealth-building at every turn,” said former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a statement linked to the ad campaign.

This is not the first time Coinbase, an online platform for buying and selling crypto, has launched advocacy efforts. Last August the company helped start Stand With Crypto, an organization for voters who own cryptocurrencies.

Stand With Crypto saw its membership surpass 1 million in June.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)