As part of a new global campaign, crypto exchange OKX is taking a subtle shot at rival Coinbase by calling out the latter’s marketing. 

A 60-second spot titled “The System Needs a Rewrite” lambasts the view that financial institutions merely need an update, as opposed to more substantial reform. The kicker is that Coinbase—whether intentionally or not—appeared to take this stance in a March advertisement, which was aptly called “It’s time to update the system.” Dispelling any notion that the callout is a coincidence, the OKX spot ends with the refrain: “It’s not time to update the system—it’s time to rewrite it.”

While the ad does not explicitly mention Coinbase by name, Haider Rafique, OKX’s chief marketing officer, confirmed the jab with Ad Age.

“A lot of centralized companies are trying to become just another traditional finance company with crypto rails,” he added.

Coinbase declined to comment.

The quarrel comes amid a thinning in the crypto exchange category, which has spurred a heightened sense of competition. Not only did FTX, one of the most popular exchanges, collapse last year, but it has left rivals reeling in its wake. Kraken in February was forced by the SEC to close its staking service—a major source of revenue. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is facing its own mounting pressure from U.S. regulators; the Justice Department is investigating the company for money laundering violations, the SEC is looking into its business practices and, in March, the CFTC sued Binance and its chief executive for compliance failures.

Even Coinbase is feeling some heat: Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s CEO, said last month that the San Francisco-based company may consider relocating outside of the U.S. should regulatory clarity not improve, but earlier this week he reportedly said the company would always have a U.S. presence.

‘Why should we trust these guys?’

Along with regulators, consumers are having a hard time trusting the crypto space, which explains why OKX opted to prioritize the mission of Web3 in its new campaign. This marks a departure from the brand’s previous messaging that focused primarily on crypto investing.

The 60-second spot, developed with agency of record BBDO New York, questions various aspects of the status quo. In one scene, the narrator asks, “Why should we trust these guys,” gesturing to a table of finance bros drunk on greed and power. In another scene, she poses a question at the heart of Web3’s purpose: “Why do we just accept that companies will do whatever they want with our data?”

The ad will have a global presence via digital media and billboards. The new emphasis coincides with OKX expanding its offerings to include products that do not merely pertain to crypto investing, but rather a larger Web3 identity. These include crypto wallet infrastructure, an NFT marketplace and a decentralized exchange.

More news: Web3 and metaverse marketing activations

Outside of a quick flash of the wallet product, however, none of these offerings are promoted directly in OKX’s ad. This move was intentional, Rafique said, because he wanted the ad to be more about the message than the product.

That was also the intention at the heart of Coinbase’s ad, its CMO, Kate Rouch, told Ad Age when it launched two months ago. Indeed, the two ads are deeply similar in both theme and creative, suggesting that OKX may be confusing a mere semantic problem for a more substantial one.

A quarrelsome theme was also taken up by upstart crypto platform Olliv, which launched its first campaign last week. The ad featured several digs at the groups of people who have historically benefited from the crypto industry, such as elitist billionaires and tech bros.