Despite the growing adoption of cryptocurrency, investors shouldn’t get too comfortable trusting marketing and should always do their own research, according to Amanda Cassatt, founder of Web3 marketing firm Serotonin.
“Marketing is a mechanism for perpetrating the fakery and the scams, and I think people should be very skeptical and do their own research,” Cassatt told Cointelegraph at Token2049 in Singapore.
Investors of all levels should always remain skeptical
Cassatt explained that seasoned crypto investors and newcomers should adopt a stance of “skepticism” around crypto marketing and “always do their own research to understand any technology or product they’re using.”
She suggested that PR firms’ due diligence standards have risen in recent years, as firms must now be more cautious than ever to ensure they work with legitimate crypto projects.
This often involves PR firms getting second opinions from fund managers and angel investors who have conducted more in-depth financial evaluations of the project, according to Cassatt. “We are mostly referred business from the leading VCs in the space, and so the fact that they’ve done their due diligence on these projects is definitely helpful to us,” she explained.
PR firms must conduct their own due diligence as well
“We also conduct our own process for making sure that not only is it a viable project that we think has a good team and is able to actually accomplish its mission, that we believe we fit in,” she added.
Cassatt also touched on celebrity marketing in crypto, opining that the “juxtaposition” between a celebrity and a crypto product is what makes it memorable. She believes this is why rapper Iggy Azalea has generated buzz around her Solana-based token, $Mother.
Related: Crypto adoption still stunted by lack of technical literacy
“Iggy Azalea isn’t someone that has a brand that immediately makes you think of technology, crypto, and so she’s creating this juxtaposition to be a zebra walking down Fifth Avenue…to stand out, be memorable, and get people excited,” she explained.
The collapse of a crypto project can impact more than just the directors, staff, and contracting firms, such as marketing agencies.
Following the crypto exchange FTX collapse in November 2022, several “YouTube influencers” were brought into a class-action lawsuit for $1 billion for promoting the exchange.
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