Following Crypto Ad, Grayscale Sees ‘Largest Fundraising Week Ever’

Following the debut of crypto asset management firm Grayscale Investment’s new TV advertisement in the US, early signs suggest viewers did take notice, although the company itself is still keeping details scarce – but saying that additional content is coming to digital channels.

As reported, the ad, dubbed “History of Money,” shows how monetary systems have evolved in the world, from ancient barter economies and to today’s unbacked fiat currencies. So far, the ad has been shown on several major US television networks, including CNBC, MSNBC, FOX, and FOX business.

First airing on Monday August 10, the new ad appears to have already generated positive results for Grayscale, with the company’s founder & CEO Barry Silbert tweeting on Friday that the firm just finished its “largest fundraising week EVER.”

As would be expected, reactions to the ad in the community ranged from criticism from the usual crypto naysayers like Peter Schiff, who called the ad “inaccurate,” to bitcoin maximalists unhappy about how the ad portrayed bitcoin as just another cryptocurrency. However, some also praised the effort, with one user writing on Twitter “GREAT work Grayscale. And thank you for your efforts.”

When it comes to the actual impact the ad has had so far, however, Grayscale tole Cryptonews.com that it is still too early to tell how effective it has been in getting regular mainstream investors interested in crypto.

“As the TV ad just aired for the first time at the beginning of the [last] week, it’s very early days to have stats or impact on a brand advertising campaign,” Marissa Arnold, communications director at Grayscale Investments told Cryptonews.com in a comment, while adding that content is still being produced:

“There is additional creative that will be running via digital channels (social, newsletters, etc.) and we are excited about elevating the Grayscale brand further through these efforts.”

One measure of how impactful the ad has been through the first week, however, could be found by checking Google’s search statistics in the US.

And although it’s difficult to draw any clear conclusions from the search data, searches for both of the terms ‘buy bitcoin’ and ‘buy cryptocurrency’ did see an upswing in the US from August 9 to 10, which was the day the ad launched. Interesting to note was also that the rise in search interest was stronger for the term ‘buy cryptocurrency, which rose 2.75 times over the two days, versus a 1.39 times increase for the term ‘buy bitcoin.’

Perhaps just as important for the company paying for the ads, searches for the term ‘Grayscale’ continued rising from a low on August 9 and to a peak on August 11 in the US, perhaps indicating some interest among potential investors.

Shortly after Grayscale’s new TV ad premiered, another major advertisement campaign for cryptocurrency also appeared mainstream press, with Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital placing a full-page bitcoin-focused ad in the print edition of the Financial Times newspaper on August 13. Fortunately, Barry Silbert didn’t seem to mind the competition, simply commenting “Love it” with a picture of the ad on Twitter the same day.