Rubic Finance

Rubic needed to acquire experienced DeFi users who would transact on the platform immediately, not passive sign-ups who would not engage beyond registration. Four obstacles defined what that required:

• Sophisticated buyer profile: The target user needed prior DeFi experience and familiarity with cross-chain mechanics to convert to an active swapper.
• High competition for DeFi wallet share: Established aggregators and bridge protocols were already competing for the same active trader segments across Ethereum and BNB Chain.
• Platform awareness gap: Rubic's one-click swap mechanic was a genuine product differentiator but required reaching users who understood the problem it solved.
• Budget discipline: At $30,000 total spend, every dollar needed to reach wallets with a demonstrated history of protocol interaction, not broad crypto interest.

Standard programmatic channels do not segment audiences by on-chain behaviour. A DeFi user acquisition campaign targeting interest categories on Google or Twitter would reach crypto-curious users, not active protocol participants. Rubic needed verified DeFi wallet activity as the entry condition, not a self-reported interest signal. Blockchain-Ads provided the targeting layer the campaign required through four capabilities:

• DeFi protocol user segments: Campaigns reached wallets with verified swap and bridging activity across Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Polygon.
• Token swapper targeting: Audiences were filtered to users already performing cross-chain transactions on competing platforms.
• Cost-per-transaction pricing: Ad spend was tied directly to verified platform transactions, aligning acquisition cost with measurable user activity.
• Multi-chain inventory: Publisher coverage across DeFi-native content ensured ad placement in front of active protocol users in North America and Latin America.

• 552 users acquired across 60 days at a blended CPA of $54.35.
• Transaction volume grew by 300% over the campaign period.
• Total Value Locked increased by 130% from campaign start to close.
• LTV-projected ROAS: 29.3x, based on an average user lifetime value of $1,591. This figure assumes continued platform engagement and does not reflect guaranteed revenue from all acquired users.

The objective was to identify which DeFi audience segments converted to active platform users. Display ads ran across DeFi and multi-chain publisher inventory in North America and Latin America. Two angles were tested against the core DeFi protocol user segment: 

• The speed angle led with "Complete Cross-Chain Swaps in Less Than 2 Minutes," targeting users familiar with slow multi-step bridging.
• The differentiation angle led with "First DEX with the 1 Click Cross-Chain Swap," positioning Rubic as a category first.

The speed angle drove stronger early click-through from experienced swapper segments.

Targeting was narrowed to token swapper segments that showed the highest post-click engagement in Phase 1. The friction-removal angle was introduced with "No More Actions Needed with Rubic Cross-Chain," speaking directly to users who understood the complexity Rubic eliminated. Latin American DeFi segments were scaled alongside North American audiences after showing comparable engagement rates. The agency partners refined audience exclusions to reduce spend on wallets with no recent protocol activity.

Retargeting was layered onto users who had clicked but not yet launched the app. The late-funnel "Confirm and Accept" creative ran against this retargeted pool, assuming product familiarity and driving directly to app launch. The token swapper segment delivered the highest conversion volume across the final two months. 552 users were acquired across the full campaign at a blended CPA of $54.35.