The digital asset manager Grayscale Investments pulled an advertisement for cryptocurrency trusts from Fox News after the host of the popular late-night show Tucker Carlson made controversial remarks about the shootings at protests by the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.
“Last night one of our ads was shown by mistake during a television program that absolutely does not reflect our values. We are examining how to prevent a recurrence of such situations in the future,” the company said on its official Twitter account.
It came to our attention that one of our ads erroneously ran during a TV program last night that is absolutely not aligned with our values or what we stand for. We’re investigating how this aired outside of our media buyer’s guidelines to ensure this does not happen again.
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) August 27, 2020
On the August 27 broadcast, Tucker Carlson made remarks that could be read as defending a shooting by a 17-year-old, which left two protesters dead and another wounded.
Popular blogger and political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen said eight advertisers of the show, including Grayscale, “sponsored Tucker Carlson shielding a killer on air”.
So let’s see who those advertisers are:@unhingedmovie@Gabi_Insurance @relieffactor
Visiting Angels@puretalkusa@MyPillowUSA@Grayscale@WeatherTech@SurePayrollYou all just paid for Tucker Carlson to defend a murderer on air.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) August 27, 2020
Fred Guttenberg, who lost his 18-year-old daughter in a school shooting two years ago, said he hopes advertisers turn away from the “damn lunatic” Tucker Carlson, who “encourages killings”.
I will answer @TuckerCarlson. My daughter was killed by an 18 year with an AR 15. Just walked into her school. Tucker, you are a fucking lunatic who will get people killed. I hope advertisers dropp you immediately today. You should be removed for the safety of our kids. https://t.co/uclTKu2zkZ
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) August 27, 2020
Grayscale’s response to public pressure drew both praise and criticism from investors. One investor closed his account with the company due to disagreement with the leadership’s political stance.
I didn’t know grayscale aligns with the leftists.. now I am uninterested in holding my position with the trust anylonger..
— Matt Messex (@TheBullishOne) August 27, 2020
Total assets under management by Grayscale stand at $5.8 billion.
08/27/20 UPDATE: Net Assets Under Management, Holdings per Share, and Market Price per Share for our Investment Products.
Total AUM: $5.8 billion$BTC $BCH $ETH $ETC $ZEN $LTC $XLM $XRP $ZEC pic.twitter.com/wOUAzr4Vyi
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) August 27, 2020
The most popular is GBTC, which accounts for more than 80% of the company’s portfolio ($4.79 billion). Grayscale Ethereum Trust with $818 million in assets is second in popularity among investors.
In August, launched Grayscale’s advertising campaign that exploits the ‘Money printer go BRRR’ meme, hinting at the Fed’s printing presses at work during the crisis following the COVID-19 outbreak.
The spots will air in ad breaks on channels such as CNBC, MSNBC and FOX Business.
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