BlockDAG Network

BlockDAG needed to reach qualified crypto investors with both the capital and the on-chain experience to evaluate and participate in a Layer 1 token presale, not speculative retail buyers with no prior investment history. Three obstacles defined what that required:

• Presale qualification bar: Token presale participants needed sufficient wallet assets and prior investment experience to commit meaningful capital. Broad crypto audiences would not convert.
• Crowded Layer 1 landscape: BlockDAG competed against established and emerging Layer 1 platforms for investor attention during the presale window.
• 60-day window: The presale timeline was fixed, requiring rapid audience qualification and optimisation to maximise holder acquisition before the presale closed.

Presale investor acquisition on mainstream platforms is restricted. Google and Meta do not allow token presale advertising in most jurisdictions, and crypto-native social audiences skew toward speculative retail buyers rather than verified on-chain investors. Coinband needed a platform that could filter audiences by wallet asset value and DeFi participation history, not by self-reported interest in cryptocurrency.

Blockchain-Ads provided the targeting infrastructure the campaign required through four capabilities: 

• ETH and token holder segments: Campaigns reached wallets with verified ETH holdings and prior token investment history.
• DeFi protocol user targeting: Audiences were filtered to users with active participation in DeFi protocols, indicating familiarity with evaluating new blockchain projects.
• Wallet asset value filters: Targeting was scoped to wallets holding $1,500–$10,000 in assets, identifying investors with sufficient capital for meaningful presale participation.
• Investing and wealth management interest layers: Additional filters captured users actively researching high-growth blockchain opportunities across global markets.

• CPA reduced by 83%, from $304 in Phase 1 to $52 in Phase 3.
• 3,265+ token holders acquired at a blended CPA of $65.94.
• Token sales in Phase 3 were 320% higher than Phase 1.
• ROAS: 2.7x return on $215,296 total ad spend.
• Presale revenue: $581,299 attributed to the campaign.

The objective was to identify which investor segments and creative angles produced the highest presale engagement. Display ads ran across crypto-native publisher inventory globally against ETH holder and DeFi protocol user segments.

Three angles were tested:

• The presale engagement angle led with "Join the BlockDAG Presale, Engage with the Project," targeting investors already familiar with presale mechanics.
• The mining gateway angle led with "Your Gateway to Accelerated Crypto Mining," connecting BlockDAG's hardware mining ecosystem to the token investment opportunity.
• The simplicity angle ran "Experience the Simplest and Most Rewarding Crypto Mining from Anywhere," targeting mobile-first investors through the BlockDAG app creative.

Phase 1 CPA opened at $304 and established the baseline for optimisation.

Targeting was tightened to wallet asset segments in the $1,500–$10,000 range that showed the highest presale engagement in Phase 1. The presale engagement angle scaled as the primary creative across website and app-focused ad sets. The mining gateway angle continued running against hardware-interested investor segments. Landing page and CTA variations were tested to improve post-click conversion rates. CPA fell from $304 to $112 as audience qualification tightened and underperforming segments were removed.

Retargeting activated against users who had engaged with Phase 1 and Phase 2 ads but had not yet joined the presale. The presale engagement creative scaled across all retargeted segments alongside the mining gateway angle for hardware-interested investors. Token sales in Phase 3 were 320% higher than Phase 1, driven by the compounding effect of audience refinement and retargeting pressure. CPA reached $52 by the end of the campaign. 3,265 token holders were acquired across the full 60 days at a blended CPA of $65.94. This generated $581,299 in presale revenue against $215,296 in total ad spend.