Solana Removes Controversial Ad After Backlash from Crypto Community

Blockchain network Solana has removed a controversial advertisement from its social media after facing intense criticism from the crypto community.

The cryptocurrency industry is known for its rapid changes and varied opinions, leading to a recent post from blockchain network Solana being massively criticized before being deleted.

The advertisement, which ran for less than a day before being pulled, sparked backlash for its messaging around gender identity issues. It was titled “America is Back—Time to Accelerate” and showed a man portrayed as “America” in a therapy session. The therapist suggested he focus on “coming up over a new gender” instead of innovation.

The man later responded that he wanted to “build onchain and reclaim my place as the beacon of innovation.” He also stated he wanted “to invent technologies, not genders.” These comments appeared to be criticizing progressive values around gender identity.

Took them 9 hours to delete it.

Also all the major players in the Solana ecosystem suddenly delete their tweets promoting/supporting the ad and RT’d and liked takes about it being bad.

They approved this, supported it and celebrated it.

They rolled it back because it hurt… pic.twitter.com/kPMERDpTcn

— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) March 18, 2025

The video had already garnered over 1.2 million views, 1,300 comments and 1,400 reposts before Solana pulled it. Most responses slammed the ad for its handling of gender identity issues.

The timing of the ad proved especially problematic. It came shortly after President Donald Trump revoked executive orders related to gender and sexual orientation. Trump also recently signed an order recognizing only two sexes and removed the “X” gender option on passports.

Several crypto leaders spoke out against the advertisement. Sean O’Connor, operating chief at Web3 infrastructure firm Blocknative, called it “tone deaf” on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

hey @solana – for real?

at a time when trans people are getting denied passports and being erased by the government… this is the ad you put out?

this is so fucking tone deaf https://t.co/p2hF5jIb9c

— sean o’connor | gas network 〒 (@aseoconnor) March 17, 2025

David McIntyre, operating chief at DoubleZero, described the ad as “horrendous.” He questioned why Solana didn’t “keep the message positive instead of dunking on people and making light of serious cultural issues.”

This video is horrendous and I hope Solana takes it down

If you want to celebrate America why not keep the message positive instead of dunking on people and making light of serious cultural issues

Let's keep the message on how Solana can help people rather than this garbage https://t.co/DYJ2N9MoeI

— David McIntyre (@mcintyre) March 17, 2025

Even Nicolas Pennie, co-founder of Solana development platform Helius, criticized the approach. He stated that “virtue signaling will always be cringe regardless of political ideology.”

virtue signalling will always be cringe

regardless of political ideology https://t.co/LJ00cvXnDN

— nick | helius.dev (@nick_pennie) March 17, 2025

Some supporters of the ad later changed their position. Multicoin Capital co-founder Tushar Jain initially praised the ad but later deleted his post “after some reflection.”

Jain had earlier called the ad “bold and risky.” He even suggested that having former Vice President Kamala Harris play the therapist role would have made it better.

In his retraction, Jain said the ad could have been more effective by focusing on “deeper culture war issues.” He noted it could have delivered its message “without alienating a portion of the audience.”

Anneri van der Merwe, product lead at Base, also criticized the advertisement. She called it “offensive, cringe, and pandering” and noted that Base’s approach is “for everyone.”

Adam Cochran, partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, questioned the judgment behind the ad’s creation. He referred to a “weird circlejerk” in Silicon Valley where people believe “this is cool or edgy.”

Even Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko appeared to be distancing himself from the campaign. He suggested in a post that the company’s previous “Maren ad was better,” referring to an earlier, less controversial marketing effort.

Some observers suggest the ad may have been intentional “rage bait.” This is a marketing approach designed to generate buzz through controversy. However, this strategy risks alienating large portions of the global crypto community.

The Solana Foundation did not publicly state why it deleted the ad. It also did not respond to requests for comment from media outlets.

The controversy comes at a challenging time for Solana. The blockchain’s native token hit a yearly low of $