Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsThe team behind blockchain network Solana has deleted a controversial advertisement posted on its X account after immense backlash over political messaging around gender identity.
\nThe more than two-and-a-half-minute ad for the Solana Accelerate conference posted on March 17 with the caption \u201cAmerica is back. Time to Accelerate\u201d depicted a man as \u201cAmerica\u201d in a therapy session who said he was having thoughts \u201cabout innovation\u201d such as crypto.
\nThe therapist responds he should do \u201csomething more productive, like coming up with a new gender\u201d and later says the man should \u201cfocus on pronouns.\u201d
\nAs the conversation meanders on, the man snaps and launches into a monologue amid swelling patriotic music, saying he wants to \u201cbuild onchain and reclaim my place as the beacon of innovation\u201d and wants \u201cto invent technologies, not genders\u201d in an apparent dig at progressive values.
\nBefore its deletion, the ad was viewed over 1.2 million times and racked up over 1,300 comments and 1,400 reposts, a majority of which derided it for its handling of gender identity and for making light of a highly divisive political issue.
\n\u201cThey rolled it back because it hurt their business, not because they thought it was wrong,\u201d Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran wrote to X on March 18.<\/p>\n
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\u2019d and liked takes about it being bad.They approved this, supported it and celebrated it.They rolled it back because it hurt\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/kPMERDpTcn\u2014 Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) March 18, 2025<\/p>\n
Solana has not stated why it deleted the ad. The Solana Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsThe team behind blockchain network Solana has deleted a controversial advertisement posted on its X account after immense backlash over political messaging around gender identity. The more than… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125277"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSean O\u2019Connor, operating chief at Web3 infrastructure firm Blocknative, wrote on X, \u201cThis is so fucking tone deaf.\u201d
\n\u201cAt a time when trans people are getting denied passports and being erased by the government… this is the ad you put out?\u201d he added.\u00a0
\nOn his first day back in the White House, President Donald Trump revoked Joe Biden\u2019s executive orders aimed at preventing discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation.\u00a0
\nHe also signed an order recognizing only two sexes \u2014 male and female \u2014 and scrapped the option for Americans to choose \u201cX\u201d as a gender on passports.
\nDoubleZero operating chief David McIntyre called Solana\u2019s ad \u201chorrendous\u201d and questioned why Solana didn\u2019t \u201ckeep the message positive instead of dunking on people and making light of serious cultural issues.\u201d
\nNicolas Pennie, the co-founder of the Solana development platform Helius, said on X that \u201cvirtue signaling will always be cringe regardless of political ideology.\u201d
\nOthers who initially backed the ad have also pulled their support amid the backlash.
\nRelated: Crypto firms spent $134M on 2024 US elections, raising influence concerns
\nMulticoin Capital co-founder Tushar Jain wrote on X that he deleted his initial post praising the ad \u201cafter some reflection.\u201d\u00a0
\nHe previously called the ad \u201cbold and risky\u201d and said having former Vice President Kamala Harris play the role of therapist was the \u201conly thing that could have made it better.\u201d
\nIn his retraction statement, Jain said it would have been more effective to \u201cfocus on deeper culture war issues like the failings of the oppressor-oppressed world view, not surface culture war issues like pronouns,\u201d and the ad could have sent a message \u201cwithout alienating a portion of the audience.\u201d
\nX Hall of Flame: Solana \u2018will be a trillion-dollar asset\u2019 \u2014 Mert Mumtaz\u00a0Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"