Compound

Compound needed to drive qualified DeFi users to complete specific on-chain actions, thereby bridging USDC to Arbitrum and borrowing on Compound V3. All of this through a time-limited 60-day incentivised quest, requiring audiences with the right assets, protocol knowledge, and cross-chain experience to convert.

Three challenges made that difficult:

• Audience specificity: The quest required users to hold ETH or USDC, understand cross-chain bridging mechanics, and be comfortable executing multi-step DeFi transactions. General crypto audiences could not complete the required actions.
• Short campaign window: The 60-day timeframe required immediate audience qualification and zero wasted spend on users unlikely to complete the full quest flow.
• Multi-step conversion: The campaign needed users who would progress from ad click through wallet connection, USDC bridging, and Compound V3 borrowing. Thus, a longer conversion chain than a simple sign-up.

Standard display networks could reach crypto audiences but not verified on-chain users with active DeFi protocol history and cross-chain bridge transaction experience. Compound needed users already holding USDC or ETH who had previously interacted with lending and bridging protocols. Interest-based platforms had no reliable signal for DeFi protocol depth or cross-chain wallet activity.

Blockchain-Ads provided the targeting precision the quest campaign demanded through three capabilities:

• On-chain wallet targeting: Campaigns reached ETH holder and DeFi-active wallets with verified lending protocol and bridge transaction history, not interest proxies.
• DeFi publisher inventory: The network covered lending protocol, yield farming, and cross-chain DeFi publisher environments where Compound's target audience was already active.
• Quest-optimised campaigns: Targeting was structured to drive qualified quest starters most likely to complete all required on-chain steps within the 60-day window.

• 3,058 quest completions delivered across a 60-day global campaign.
• CPA: $16.35 per quest completion.
• Volume increase: 400% growth in USDC bridging and borrowing activity on Compound V3 during the campaign period.
• Impressions: 3.5M+ delivered globally across display formats.
• CTR: 1.52% blended across all formats.
• CPC: $0.94 blended across the full campaign.

The campaign launched globally across DeFi protocol user and ETH holder wallet segments with display formats.

Four creative angles ran simultaneously:

• An ARB rewards angle promoting ARB earnings through Layer3 quests on Compound.
• A USDC utility angle inviting users to unlock the power of USDC.
• A borrowing angle directing users to borrow on Compound V3 on Ethereum.
• A direct need angle asking users if they needed USDC.

The objective was to identify which angle drove the lowest cost per quest completion among active DeFi and bridge user segments.

Data from Phase 1 identified active DeFi protocol users and ETH stablecoin holders as the strongest converters. The ARB rewards and borrowing angles outperformed the utility and need angles on quest completion rate. Budget shifted toward these two creatives.

Three new angles were introduced to drive urgency:

• A combined action angle offering ARB rewards for borrowing USDC.
• A quest completion angle directing users to complete the quest and boost their rewards.
• A scarcity angle warning that rewards were running out and prompting immediate action.

The scarcity creative drove the strongest click-through rate among users already aware of the quest.

The campaign concentrated spend on the scarcity and quest completion angles across verified DeFi-active and cross-chain bridge wallet segments globally. Retargeting layers re-engaged users who had clicked through to the Layer3 quest page without completing all required steps. The scarcity creative, "Act Fast: Rewards Running Out," drove the highest retargeting conversion rate among users already inside the quest funnel. The retargeting layer delivered the majority of the campaign's quest completions in the final two weeks.