How Coinbase Sells the Future

Selling the Future
Jul 24, 2017 · 5 min read

What it is:

Cryptocurrency is one of the more complex markets to emerge in recent decades, with its feverish rise to prominence matched only by its lack of understanding in the general public. Coinbase is a leading digital currency exchange platform, with all of the wallet, security and merchant features that you would expect in a next gen financial services company. It buys and sells Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

How it Sells the Future:

In short, it doesn’t.

For a leader in a transformative economic phenomenon, Coinbase’s positioning is surprisingly functional. Perhaps this is an intentional way to distance itself from a concept that has been misunderstood and stigmatized by its associations with the dark web. Or perhaps they are attempting to have their cake and eat it, benefiting from this rise, while simultaneously not getting caught in the quagmire of its complexity.

It’s positioning could read “For people who already know about, understand and are bought into the future that is digital currency, you can buy and sell it here.”

Ok. As a reader, I feel satisfied to know what it is, but I’m still missing the why it is.

Without a strong, emotionally-resonant message, Coinbase is vulnerable to competitors chipping away at its features. If you give a customer a reason to care, a vision to buy into, a sense of purpose and (even) a way to deepen their own character and identity by choosing your product, that customer is much more likely to stay, and your business and brand are stronger as a result.

So why buy and sell digital currency? What’s Coinbase’s vision for a better world? Why should it earn a role in people’s financial portfolio? As a leader in the space, its missing an opportunity to elevate cryptocurrency’s role from speculative coder-bro curiosity to a legitimate, safe, cost-efficient and stable way to participate in the global economy.

Why not position currency as the first domino in a string of services that will be reinvented by blockchain and redistributing access to data, a key driver of future wealth? Why not stake a claim to openness, transparency and a bright more equitable future?

By way of comparison, let’s take a look at a few other top cryptocurrency brands, ranked from most emotionally resonant to → most functionally descriptive.

Bitcoin — “Change the way you view the world.”

There is little doubt Bitcoin has bold ambitions about its role in this movement. It speaks like the leader that it is. No mention of digital currency, cryptocurrency or even technology. The tagline invites the reader to a permanent shift in their perspective and it works.

IPFS — “IPFS is the Distributed Web”

IPFS is lesser known than bitcoin, and thus takes the opportunity to introduce itself as the “Distributed web,” paired with a highly descriptive subheading “P2P hypermedia protocol,” but at least paid off with some benefits “to make the web faster, safer and more open.” I’d also note that it’s deliberately not defining its acronym, Interplanetary File System, likely because that’s a stitch towards Sci-Fi they don’t want to take. (Notice the nod, though, in its web design)

Dogecoin: The fun and friendly internet currency

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, we have Dogecoin, a digital currency that bucks the stuffy banks of yesteryear and the techno-serious cryptocurrencies of today by installing an internet meme as its mascot.

Much to the chagrin of its nerdy older brother, Bitcoin, Dogecoin is growing in popularity and is just plain fun.

Ripple “Join the Global Settlement Network”

Mainly a feature-driven positioning, with a hint of bandwagoning with the “Join.” I do like their (buried) line “Our vision is to enable the internet of value, so that the world can move value the way it moves information today,” because it invites a halo from the well understood and beloved internet, inviting the reader to draw their own conclusions about its potential.

Ethereum “Blockchain App Platform” and “Build unstoppable Applications” is a tight benefit-driven positioning, although still quite functional. There’s a ripe opportunity to explore the benefits of decentralization and the elimination of a corruptible or otherwise flawed middle man — it’s a more perfect way to conduct fair business.

(homestead is a reference to the second release of its app platform)

Litecoin “Global Decentralized Currency Based on Blockchain Technology”

And lastly, Litecoin’s functionally-descriptive and somewhat uninspiring tagline is made almost-campy by the “network” stock video backdrop:

Selling the Future

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Here I explore how businesses are Selling the Future // 10 years in business strategy and experience design

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