Coinbase’s sponsorship of the US Military’s 250-year anniversary parade, which coincided with Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, has gone down terribly with the crypto group.
Whereas the sparsely attended occasion left Trump wanting visibly glum and as if he would slightly be anyplace else, Coinbase’s title was emblazoned entrance and middle on the primary podium and splashed throughout star-spangled advert breaks through the occasion’s livestream.
Nevertheless, having one of many world’s largest crypto exchanges featured so prominently couldn’t sway the crypto group on X, who described it as a “deeply disturbing” PR stunt, “gross,” and “bootlicking.”
“I entered the crypto world in 2017 to stand against late-stage capitalism… not help crypto bros fund it,” one former Consensys worker stated.
Coinbase sponsored the occasion alongside Palantir, Amazon, UFC, Lockheed Martin, and others.
Some customers identified how Coinbase sponsoring the parade straight contradicts its personal place of staying impartial on political causes. Certainly, most of the crypto trade’s prior claims straight contradict this weekend’s sponsorship.
Others criticized its determination to sponsor the overtly patriotic occasion, on condition that it depends on low cost abroad buyer help slightly than American employees. On this level, in addition they referenced the bribing of Coinbase’s buyer help employees in India that led to a significant knowledge leak.
Crypto journalist David Morris additionally identified how Coinbase’s buyer knowledge was dealt with by “literal Italian fascists” by way of the agency Neutrino.
Neutrino’s co-founders beforehand labored for Hacking Crew, a adware firm whose software program has been utilized by quite a few repressive nations and their army. In Veracruz, Mexico, the place a minimum of 19 journalists have been killed since 2012, the state espionage unit employed using Hacking Crew’s know-how.
“coinbase is a mission focused company and we won’t engage with political issues” – Brian Armstrong 2020
“Coinbase is proud to sponsor United States military parades to promote American political patriotism” – Coinbase 2025 https://t.co/AcvY1Y2hNr
— ℵᵥ (@alpeh_v) June 15, 2025
Former Unlock Protocol developer Angela Steffens described Coinbase’s parade sponsorship as some “North Korea shit.”
Crypto founder “Captain Nemo,” stated, “Some of us have spent months hiding in shelters, lost loved ones, and suffered unspeakable pain at the hands of the very same army you’re now sponsoring.”
He added, “Crypto emerged from ideals of decentralization, individual sovereignty, and freedom from oppressive state control — not to funnel resources into institutions whose core purpose involves violence and ending lives.”
Coinbase apologists referred to as “tone-deaf”
Some Coinbase goons tried to defend the sponsorship. Coinbase protocol specialist Viktor Bunin argued that the crypto trade is “ahead of the cultural curve again,” and claimed nearly all of individuals complaining about Coinbase’s sponsorship “fall into the cultural elite bucket.”
Former senior Coinbase worker Luke Blood stated, “It’s only political if you hate America,” and described some of the well-funded armies on this planet as “apolitical.”
This response was described as “tone-deaf,” and Bunin’s argument was in comparison with “nation-state bootlicking.”
It’s classless and intensely gauche for the army to shill company sponsors.
— tim-clancy.eth (@_Enoch) June 15, 2025
The entire thing happened as army motion between Israel and Iran ramped up. The Worldwide Atomic Power Company had simply accused Iran of breaching its nuclear obligations.
Israel then started concentrating on nuclear scientists and ballistic missile stations with the objective of destroying Iran’s nuclear program and army capabilities.
Iran then launched a sequence of strikes again concentrating on residential areas in Tel Aviv, a few of which comprise Iron Dome defences.
As Trump claims to oppose Israel’s assaults on Iran and attempt for negotiations, the federal government has been sending a number of army provide planes throughout the North Atlantic Ocean.
