The ads encourage viewers to “learn about simple, secure Bitcoin”
The crypto exchange Zebpay has recently launched a campaign during the Indian Premier League cricket games. The advertisements featured Bitcoin and appeared on the Indian streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar while a series of cricket matches aired, starting from September 19th.
Naimish Sanghvi, the Chief Executive Officer of Coin Crunch India, tweeted a picture of his TV with the advertisement on screen.
“Learn about simple, secure Bitcoin on ZebPay, ₹100 to start.” the ads stated simply. Another tweet by Mohit Rai Sharma celebrated the advertisement as a “historic moment for crypto in India.” He went on to add, “This is huge as more than 3.5 million people watch IPL on Hotstar everyday.”
In 2019, more than 462 million people tuned in to the Indian Premier League games. Zebpay resumed operations in India earlier this year, a little before the Reserve Bank of India deemed a two-year ban that barred financial institutions from providing banking services to crypto firms as unconstitutional.
The current campaign run by Zebpay started after a report released by Bloomberg on September 15th, stating that the federal cabinet of India is once again considering legislative action to ban cryptocurrencies.
According to a report published by the Press Trust of India on September 22nd, the country’s parliament is likely to adjourn eight days early, on September 23rd. This is allegedly due to several members of parliament testing positive for the coronavirus. India recently overtook Brazil to become the country with the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world.
The CEO of blockchain advisory firm Policy 4.0, Tanvi Ratna, revealed that no legislation on the crypto ban appeared in the list of bills to address while the parliament is in session.
“#India begins its Monsoon #ParliamentSession that was disrupted due to #COVID19. #Cryptocurrency #Ban legislation does not appear in the list of 45+ bills on the agenda for the 18 day session. This is big news, though this could change & there are other routes for the government.” Ratna tweeted on September 14.
Despite continuing regulatory uncertainty in the country, the exchange has continued expanding. Last May, Zebpay announced that it had commissioned Chainalysis, the blockchain forensics firm, to track the transactions it executed across its platforms in India.
There has been a steady rise of cryptocurrency advertisements outside of social media around the world. One notable example is Binance, which launched advertisements featuring Bitcoin at London bus stops ahead of its launch in the UK.