As the non-fungible token (NFT) space exploded last year, several projects turned to influencer marketing to promote their digital goods.
But as the market cools amid the “crypto winter” — in June, NFT sales hit a 12-month low, the Guardian reported, citing research from Chainalysis — some influencers aren’t accepting these deals.
It’s common for personal-finance influencers to earn money promoting financial-adjacent products and services, whether it be a credit card or fintech platform. And a number of influencers have promoted NFTs in the past.
But Insider spoke to three creators and one talent manager who have grown wary of promoting these blockchain-enabled digital goods.
“While I don’t have any issue with investing a small amount of your money in speculative investments, I’m completely unwilling to promote a new coin, crypto app, or investment platform that could fold as quickly as it popped up and take my audience’s money with it,” one personal-finance influencer told Insider. “Ethically, regardless of how much money I’m offered, I’m not willing to shill for something that is completely untested, unproven, and likely a really bad investment for most people.”
That influencer has also turned down offers from investing platforms that specialize in cryptocurrencies.
“Most of the platforms that reach out offering crypto or NFT investments are very new and have no track record of success, no reviews, and no customer service,” they said. “They’re also not insured.”
One talent manager, who works with several personal-finance influencers, agreed, telling Insider that their clients avoid promoting all NFT and crypto projects to their audience, adding that most projects are not worth the risk.
The risk to reputation — and to fans’ wallets — may be among the biggest. Last year, YouTuber Logan Paul promoted meme coin Dink Doink. Shortly after sharing the project with his millions of fans, the price of Dink Doink fell, and Paul faced backlash online for promoting the coin. He called Dink Doink “the project from hell,” in an interview with the New York Times.
Several other celebrities have faced similar backlashes as crypto and NFT projects that they’ve promoted have crashed in value, leaving trusting fans who bought them in the lurch.
Reese Witherspoon’s World of Women NFT has dropped in value more than 75% since the project was announced in February, for example, and the price of French Montana’s NFTs has fallen about 90% since the line debuted last September, according to Bloomberg.
And earlier this month, consumer watchdog Truth in Advertising wrote letters to 17 celebrities, including Gwenyth Paltrow and DJ Khaled, reminding them that promoting an NFT or cryptocurrency without disclosing a financial connection is against the FTC’s rules.
“I have never accepted an NFT sponsorship on my YouTube channel,” a second personal-finance creator told Insider. “Most of the emails that I receive don’t look legit … I’m not against NFTs, but my audience is not big on crypto or NFTs, and I feel that I would get a lot of backlash from doing a sponsorship on them at this time.”
The emails often don’t contain signatures or come from nonstandarized email addresses, they added.
Plus, the second influencer said, the rates they’ve been offered haven’t been great. One NFT project offered them $1,000 for a 30-second ad at the beginning of a YouTube video — half of their typical rate.
The first personal-finance influencer shared that they were offered $2,000 to promote a cryptocurrency, which is lower than the standard they charge for a sponsorship.
Insider viewed the exact deals some projects have pitched to influencers this year. Check out a few real examples, and how much they offered to pay, below.
Read the first example, sent to a personal-finance influencer in June, and shared with Insider:
“We would like to offer you cooperation in advertising. We are willing to pay you $1,800 for a 15 second video at the beginning of your video. We want to promote our AZUKI NFT project. If you are interested, we will send you a video materials, seeing which you tell me whether you are ready to cooperate or not.”
Read the second example, sent to a personal-finance influencer in June, and shared with Insider:
“KillaBears NFT Project. We would like to offer you cooperation in advertising. We are willing to pay you $2,200 for a promotion video on your YouTube channel. If you are interested, please let us know so we can discuss further.”
Read the third example, sent to a personal-finance influencer in June, and shared with Insider:
“We would like to offer you cooperation in advertising. We’re willing to pay you $1,000 for a 30-second video at the beginning of your video. If you think this is not enough, you can offer us another amount anf we will decide if it suits us. We want to promote our CYPHER NFT project. If you are interested, we will send you a video materials, seeing which you tell me whether you are ready to cooperate or not.”
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