Solana removed a controversial advertisement from its official X account on March 18 after facing criticism for handling gender identity and political messaging.
The two-and-a-half-minute video, released a day earlier to promote the Solana Accelerate conference, featured a man in a therapy session expressing his desire to innovate in cryptocurrency but receiving dismissive comments from the therapist about gender and pronouns. The ad, which received over 1.2 million views and significant backlash for trivializing gender identity, prompted criticism for its divisive political rhetoric before being taken down.
Venture capitalist Adam Cochran of Cinneamhain Ventures suggested the decision to delete the ad was purely business-driven, writing,
“They rolled it back because it hurt their business, not because they thought it was wrong.”
Meanwhile, Sean O’Connor, chief operating officer at Web3 infrastructure firm Blocknative, called the ad “tone deaf” and criticized its timing amid increasing restrictions on trans rights in the U.S.
The controversy comes amid major policy shifts under President Donald Trump, who recently revoked executive orders aimed at protecting LGBTQ+ rights. His administration has also legally recognized only two sexes and eliminated the option for Americans to select “X” as a gender on passports. Trump also signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
David McIntyre, operating chief at DoubleZero, questioned why Solana included divisive cultural commentary in its marketing, saying,
“Why not keep the message positive instead of dunking on people?”
Nicolas Pennie, co-founder of the Solana development platform Helius, dismissed the approach as “virtue signaling” regardless of political ideology.
Some early supporters of a controversial ad, like Tushar Jain from Multicoin Capital, have retracted their endorsements. Jain noted the ad could have been more impactful if it addressed deeper ideological issues instead of superficial topics like pronouns. Solana has not clarified why the ad was removed, and the Solana Foundation has not responded to inquiries.
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