War of words: OKX Takes a Subtle Jab at Coinbase in New ad Campaign

It follows the introduction on March 9 of a campaign by Coinbase called “It’s time to update the system.” The message from OKX was delivered at the conclusion of a 60-second video campaign that was released on May 9 and criticizes the allegedly “broken ways” of the centralized financial system.

In a recent global ad campaign, cryptocurrency exchange OKX appears to be criticizing Coinbase, saying that “the system doesn’t need an update, it needs a rewrite.” 

Although Coinbase isn’t specifically mentioned in the film, its slogan does seem to make a sly jab at the exchange.

While American financial institutions are considered a “essential part” of the conventional financial system, Coinbase’s campaign claimed that they still rely on antiquated technology to provide for their consumers. Cryptocurrency, according to Coinbase, is the solution to this issue.

By proposing that users don’t even need to interact with centralized players in the first place, OKX seems to take Coinbase’s concept a step further. Two schools of thinking exist. One side proposes that in order to improve the world, we should modernize current systems. The other thinks a system overhaul is necessary. Our new ad is a gesture to people who think the system has to be rewritten into Web3, according to Haider Rafique, Chief Marketing Officer of OKX.

According to OKX, its advertising agency, BBDO New York, helped to produce the campaign. Australia is now a target market for the Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange, which explained in a March 29 statement that Australia would be a significant growth area going forward.

According to Rafique, the decision to grow “Down Under” was motivated by Australians’ “huge appetite” for more cryptocurrency trading and investing products: