Polkadot, a blockchain platform with a market cap of $8 billion, released its H1 2024 Treasury report revealing massive spending in marketing and promotional activities. The details expose the company’s high expenses, with the Treasury spending $87 million in the first half of 2024 alone. Most notable was the allocation of $37 million in “Outreach”, which included payments to key opinion leaders (KOLs) such as influencers and the branding of the company’s logo across various platforms.
However, suspicions of deceit began to arise when the community observed misleading practices by some of these influencers, such as inflated follower numbers and bogus promotional content. Despite gaining 15 million video views and 570,000 likes, a closer look revealed that some influencers were multiplying AI-generated tweets and manipulating their follower numbers, pushing up the costs.
Among the extravagant expenses, $418,000 was paid to CoinMarketCap for an animated logo placement on their website. This unique feature was hailed as the “first-ever implementation of its kind”, even though the expense was significantly more than a content deal made with crypto publication The Block, which provided research reports, sponsored posts, newsletters, and data insights for $138,600.
Furthermore, the company spent $180,000 to brand a fleet of European private jets with the Polkadot logo, expecting social media interest from celebrities using the fleet. The community responded with criticism, noticing the high spending on the promotional endeavors.
Despite the controversy and an 8.3 percent drop in the $DOT token’s value, Polkadot remained unfazed, even sharing a post directed at marketers and KOLs. Polkadot’s substantial spending reflects its commitment to marketing outreach, an approach common within the crypto industry. Polkadot’s full balance sheet, including all crypto transactions, has been made publicly available, revealing a glimpse into the world of high-stakes crypto-platform marketing.
