George Osborne crypto company attacks UK TV regulators
Coinbase, which counts the former Tory chancellor as an adviser, has accused watchdogs of 'censorship' after its new campaign was blocked from appearing on television.
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase's Californian co-founder and chief executive, posted the advert on X, saying: 'Our ad, which got banned in the UK by the TV networks has sparked quite a reaction. If you can't say it, then there must be a kernel of truth in it.
'There are people in the UK who still think of crypto as some kind of gambling product (a very outdated view), and have completely missed the potential of crypto which is to update and improve the financial system for the benefit of everyone.
'We welcome the attacks and any other attempts to censor this message, as it just helps it spread.'
The two-minute advert, titled 'Everything is Fine', shows Britons dancing in a street full of rats and bin bags while rubbish rains from the sky.
Over the course of the video, white-collar workers lose their jobs and rampant inflation hits shoppers.
The advert mentions cryptocurrency only at the end, saying: 'If everything's fine, don't change anything', accompanied by the Coinbase logo.
The video, which has more than three million views on X, garnered support from high-profile figures including Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader. He shared the advert on social media, saying: 'Even Coinbase says Britain is broken.'
If everything is fine, then don't change anything at all.
But when the financial system isn't working for so many people in the UK, it needs to be updated. pic.twitter.com/rL1EaKu12V
— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) July 31, 2025
Clearcast, which approves or rejects adverts for broadcast on television, said it had banned the campaign for presenting cryptocurrency as a solution to Britain's economic woes.
It said: 'Clearcast reviewed a pre-production script and rough cut for this advert.
'We considered that it presented cryptocurrency as a potential solution to economic challenges, without sufficient evidence for this claim or any warnings about the potential volatility and risks.
'We concluded that it did not comply with the BCAP code [UK code of broadcast advertising] and advised that we could not approve this approach.'
The robust response from Coinbase formed part of a coordinated attack in which Mr Osborne warned that Britain was being 'completely left behind' by its approach to cryptocurrency.
Writing in the Financial Times, he described crypto as a revolution akin to Nigel Lawson's 'Big Bang' in the 1980s and warned that the UK 'risks irrelevance' amid hesitation from Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, and Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England.
Coinbase, which provides a platform for people to buy and sell various cryptocurrencies, has also been advertising on London's Tube network with a sign saying 'Real wages stuck in 2008'.
Although the advert has been blocked from television, it will continue to feature on online videos and other formats. A spokesman for the company said it had nothing to add beyond Mr Armstrong's social media post.
Clearcast is owned by the UK's main commercial broadcasters, including ITV, Channel 4 and Sky. The body previously attracted scrutiny after blocking an advert from Iceland in 2018 because it had been created by Greenpeace.
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