Ranveer Singh and Amitabh Bachchan are some of India's best-known celebrities — and as Diwali approaches, trading platforms are using their star power to reach new customers.
Dhanteras — the first day of the festival of Diwali in India — is a significant one.
Falling this year on November 2, many Indians traditionally take the opportunity to make investments in gold and diamonds, diversify into real estate and stocks, or start a business venture.
But according to Bloomberg, there’s something different this year — with major crypto platforms signing up Bollywood A-listers in an attempt to attract new customers.
Ranveer Singh — a mainstay of some of the country’s biggest blockbusters — has appeared in a 30-second ad for CoinSwitch where he raps about crypto trading in front of his friends. (Although he tweeted the commercial to his 13.9 million followers, that post had quite limited appeal, it seems — just 106 retweets and 1,122 likes.)
Perhaps more interesting is the fact that the iconic Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan is also getting involved. He has entered into a partnership with CoinDCX — but according to Bloomberg, Indian officials haven’t been happy about this.
An Awkward Situation
Last September, it was announced that the Reserve Bank of India — which had previously tried to ban cryptocurrencies before being overruled by the Supreme Court — had hired Bachchan to front a series of customer awareness adverts.
It seems the Bollywood star also opting to promote a crypto exchange hasn’t gone down well, with Bloomberg reporting that “officials met with Bachchan to reiterate their concerns.”
Bachchan’s status could mean that cryptocurrencies are seen in a much more favorable light among Indian consumers — increasing adoption and making any further clampdowns on digital assets in the future harder to achieve.
Of course, celebrity endorsements about cryptocurrencies are nothing new — and they’re rather commonplace in the U.S. Given how research from Morning Consult recently suggested that 20% of investors would invest in a cryptocurrency if it was promoted by a celebrity or influencer they trust, it’s little surprise that trading platforms want familiar faces fronting their ads.
