Top blockchain Solana shoots itself in the foot with gender identity-mocking ad

Another day, another scandal in the crypto space. This time, it's about gender identity issues and one of the top blockchains, Solana (SOL).

On Monday, the Solana Foundation, on the official X account of the Solana blockchain, posted a video ad ahead of the Solana Accelerate conference. However, after a strong community backlash, it was forced to take it down, only adding more fuel to the fire.

The video, which has been saved by other X accounts, portrays a man, "America," during a therapy session. During the session, the therapist suggests doing "something more productive, like coming up with a new gender" and "focusing on pronouns." Soon after, "America" erupts, saying that he wants to "invent technologies, not genders."

However, it seems that the ad creators and those who approved it failed to read the room, as the video was met with strong negativity.

"This failed to understand [Crypto Twitter] fundamentally. While many may have voted for Trump, that doesn't mean they agree with conservative social ideologies," Stephen | DeFi Dojo posted, adding that "crypto people tend to be remarkably heterodox," which is why the "cookie-cutter conservative value-signaling" ad failed.

This failed to understand CT fundamentally.

While many may have voted for Trump, that doesn't mean they agree with conservative social ideologies.

Rather, crypto people tend to be remarkably heterodoxic. This is why using cookie-cutter conservative value-signaling failed… pic.twitter.com/Fn2Zd8LzGX

undefined Stephen | DeFi Dojo (@phtevenstrong) March 18, 2025

Adam Cochran, who runs Cinneamhain Ventures, also criticized major players in the Solana ecosystem after the video was deleted, stressing that they "suddenly delete their tweets promoting/supporting the ad and [retweeted] and liked takes about it being bad."

"They approved this, supported it, and celebrated it. They rolled it back because it hurt their business, not because they thought it was wrong. This is who they chose to be," Cochran said.

While some X users supported the video, neither the official Solana account nor the Solana Foundation has posted any further comments on the matter.

However, Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, posted today that the "Maren ad was better," referencing Maren Altman, an influencer, and her Solana promotions. The co-founder has also shared other posts criticizing the ad.

This would have been so much easier. https://t.co/csV2pBlSfU pic.twitter.com/K1G9CsLUuZ

undefined abhay 🎈✊🛡️ (@abhay) March 17, 2025

Another post shared by Yakovenko, authored by eden 00 (IBRL arc), defended Solana, stating that it shouldn't be canceled "because of a bad tweet."

"There is no reason why gender identity should be even remotely tied to crypto. It makes zero sense. It’s past cringe – it’s just tone-deaf," the post said.

At the time of writing, SOL, the 6th largest crypto asset by market capitalization, trades at $125 and is down 3% in a day, making it the worst-performing coin among the top 10 assets in the past 24 hours.