Ethereum Preps for Primetime With TV Commercial Ahead of ETF Launch

The second wave of the crypto ETF marketing blitz has officially begun, with crypto index fund manager Bitwise releasing a “national TV ad” on Thursday talking up the Ethereum network.

“Unlike Big Finance, Ethereum doesn't clock out at 4pm,” the company wrote in a tweet on Thursday with an accompanying video.

The 40-second commercial featured an old man role-playing as the traditional stock market that’s only “awake” from 9:30am to 4pm, contrasted with a young man representing Ethereum—a blockchain that never goes offline.

“Stablecoins, NFTs, loans... people can access me 24/7,” the young man tells his elder. “You’ll get after it again on Monday.”

Following the post, Bitwise revealed that it had minted the video as an NFT on the Ethereum blockchain. Half of the ad’s proceeds will go directly to the commercial’s two actors.

The simple, short pitch mirrors that of the array of Bitcoin ETF commercials that hit the airwaves late last year. Promoters like Galaxy Digital said Bitcoin “embodies empowerment in the digital age,” while HashDex pitched it as the next “disruptive innovation” in financial technology after the credit card.

Bitwise was also the first of many issuers to run a Bitcoin ETF ad at the time, recruiting help from Johnathan Goldsmith—the most interesting man in the world.

That influx of ads preceded the Bitcoin spot ETF rollout that occurred roughly a month later, attracting billions of dollars in investments. As of today, expert analysts believe Ethereum ETFs are weeks away from going live, with Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas forecasting a simultaneous launch on July 2.

Grayscale ran a TV commercial about Ethereum in March in support of its existing $10 billion Ethereum Trust (ETHE), which it intends to convert into an Ethereum ETF. However, Bitwise's ad is the first to go out for a proper Ethereum ETF after regulators officially approved them for public trading in late May.

While no other Ethereum ads have emerged yet, future ETF providers have been talking up the asset’s investment thesis. Much like Bitwise, VanEck in early June pitched Ethereum as a new and improved set of global financial rails, forecasting that ETH would hit $22,000 by 2030.

Likewise, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan posted a thread on Thursday arguing why investors may want to diversify into Ethereum alongside Bitcoin.

“Adding ETH to a portfolio over a full crypto market cycle has historically boosted both your absolute and risk-adjusted returns compared to adding BTC only,” said Hougan.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.