Key Takeaways:
- Coinbase launches viral satire video criticizing the UK’s financial system, calling for urgent updates.
- 44% of UK adults are now financially vulnerable, according to new data from Fair4All Finance.
- UK’s crypto leadership slips as policy delays allow the US and EU to pull ahead in blockchain innovation.
In a sharp and unapologetic move, Coinbase has taken aim at the UK’s broken financial system. With biting satire and a catchy tune, the crypto giant delivers a brutal reality check, just as fresh data confirms that nearly half of the UK’s adult population faces financial hardship.
Read More: Lomond School Becomes First in the UK to Accept Bitcoin for Fees
Coinbase’s Video Sends a Clear Message: The System Is Broken
The US-based crypto exchange Coinbase published a video on X titled “Everything is Fine”, dripping in irony. Against a cheerful melody, visuals of deteriorating homes, empty wallets, and grimy streets tell a much darker story. The message is clear: the UK’s traditional financial system is failing its citizens.
The video mocks rising prices and stagnant wages, with one sarcastic lyric noting: “These fish fingers are a steal, just 100 pounds a meal.” In another line, it praises “clean streets” as scenes of filth and neglect flash across the screen.
Coinbase’s caption accompanying the post was equally provocative:
“If everything is fine, then don’t change anything at all. But when the financial system isn’t working for so many people in the UK, it needs to be updated.”
The timing couldn’t be more pointed.
Read More: JPMorgan–Coinbase Deal Shakes Up Crypto: Credit Card Buys, USDC Rewards, and Direct Bank Links Coming
20M Adults in the UK Are Financially Vulnerable
According to a 2024 report by Fair4All Finance, a staggering 44% of adults in the UK – 20.3 million people are now financially vulnerable, marking a 16% increase since 2022. The report exposes deep cracks in the economy:
- 59% increase in high-debt individuals with average incomes
- 45% spike in financial distress among younger adults, now totaling 1.9 million
- 15% of the population now relying on food banks, up from 11%
- 3.9 million people are surviving purely on credit, a 12% rise
Those hardest hit include zero-hour workers, families without savings, and individuals juggling multiple debts just to make ends meet.
“People are turning to payday loans and buy-now-pay-later services to survive,” the report notes.
This growing crisis makes Coinbase’s call for an alternative all the more resonant.
Crypto Regulation Paralysis: UK Is Losing Ground
While citizens struggle, the UK’s policymakers are dragging their feet on crypto regulation. Once considered a post-Brexit crypto leader, the UK now lags behind both the EU and the US.
In a damning report, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) highlighted the UK’s “policy procrastination” and lack of clear direction on blockchain technologies. Once hailed as a potential “gold standard” for digital asset regulation, the UK now appears paralyzed by indecision.
“The UK continues to talk about future regulation, but with no action,” analysts wrote.
Meanwhile, jurisdictions like MiCA in the EU and the U.S. SEC’s evolving crypto stance have advanced regulatory clarity, something investors and innovators increasingly prioritize.
Coinbase’s Message: Crypto Offers an Escape
The Coinbase video is more than satire, it’s a mission statement. This user-friendly and self-regulating platform has been a vocal advocate for sensible crypto regulations globally and is now helping to present digital assets as an alternative to collapsing systems.
By focusing on poverty, rising debt, and regulatory stasis, Coinbase reiterates the fundamental crypto narrative: decentralization, transparency, and financial access.
And at a time when the UK is feeling tired and restless, that appeal seems to be landing.
The Bigger Picture: Crypto as a Catalyst for Change
Crypto adoption can become a trend in the UK, given that the centralized institutions are failing, and young, digitally native groups are experiencing financial precarity. The population of nearly 4 million adults who have to survive on credit is so dependent on money that the more transparent and accessible financial services could be urgently needed.
As a result, crypto platforms, such as Coinbase, are taking the opportunity, not only to increase their customer base, but to overturn the norm.
UK has just made a decision and it will now have to take its next move that will make or break it.
