• by Fern Siegel , Yesterday

Coinbase operates a major U.S. based cryptocurrency exchange with millions of customers. As of this year, it now has a physical office in San Francisco.

It's also launched the “Human Nature” campaign across broadcast, including WNBA games, digital and social channels.

The premise behind “Human Nature,” a new social series of seven Coinbase ads, is whether crypto is a tool to increase financial freedom. The spots are: “Crypto Sweats,” “Have, Don't Have,” “Home + Kids” and “Shrinkflation.”

Each ends with a specific message. “Shrinkflation” ends with the tag: “When the system gives you less for more, it's time to update the system.”

Created by the in-house Coinbase Creative Studio and the Oscar-winning animation studio Aardman (“Wallace and Gromit”), the stop-motion spots are geared to younger demos facing financial challenges. Aardman matched the voiceovers of real people, from hours of conversations about their financial concerns.

“The charm of the characters draws you in so you can hear which elements of our system are in need of an update,” Jean Morrow, group creative director, Coinbase, told Agency Daily. “In a lot of our work, we ask people to examine the financial system and their relationship with their own economic future. Most people don’t really want to think about that stuff. Yet Aardman’s style provides a charming and humorous way to discuss those challenging topics and examine heavy doses of reality.”

The company was founded in 2012. In April 2021, Coinbase became a public company on the Nasdaq exchange. In March 2025, Coinbase said it was the largest node operator on the Ethereum network, a decentralized blockchain. Coinbase was included in the S&P 500 index on May 19.

In March 2023, SEC said it intended to begin an enforcement action over Coinbase's staking products, but the case was dropped after Donald Trump's election win in 2025.