TPS Engage allows advertisers to pay for digital OOH ads with crypto

Digital out of home (DOOH) ad platform TPS Engage now accepts cryptocurrency as a form of payment, the company told Campaign US. 

Co-founders Radu Bogdan Savonea and Matei Psatta decided to allow advertisers to pay with two different cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and eGold, after realising that many of its new clients include crypto and NFT startups. 

The company will accept crypto payments at 300,000 locations in 40 countries. The initiative aligns with TPS Engage’s mission to remove barriers around buying OOH ads programmatically. 

Earlier this year, TPS Engage gained traction with the crypto community after placing a viral ad in Times Square that responded to the GameStop meme stock frenzy, fueled by Reddit. The ad, which said “GME go BRRR” became the #2 most upvoted Reddit post of all time. 

TPS Engage also works with Safemoon, one of crypto’s safe-currencies, currencies that place a high emphasis on privacy and security, listed on the NASDAQ. From there, the crypto advertisers just kept rolling in, Psatta said. 

“We're trying to build a decentralised version of billboards, where literally anyone can just hop on a platform and book an ad without having to wait weeks,” he said. “This was the perfect opportunity to make it possible.” 

Media buyers can connect their cryptocurrency wallets directly to TPS Engage’s buying platform, Fiat. Advertisers can then select the time slots, dates and locations they’d like to advertise and check out similarly to a cash transaction. 

TPS Engage receives the payment in cryptocurrency and converts it to US dollars for bidding. The platform helps advertisers navigate complexities around financial regulations in different regions.

“That gives us the flexibility and the comfort to accept the cryptocurrency without having the risk of the currency fluctuating, losing value or gaining value,” Savonea said. 

Advertisers including DogeCoin and crypto platform FibSwap DEx have paid TPS Engage for billboard space using cryptocurrency since the feature has launched. While Bitcoin and eGold are the only currencies permitted on the platform so far, TPS Engage expects to add more. 

TPS Engage, however, isn’t just used by crypto enthusiasts. Snoop Dogg used the platform to advertise his latest album in April, and Kanye West used it to promote his new album, Donda Deluxe, in five countries. 

The company has also worked with philanthropic clients, like the PVBLIC Foundation, which used TPS to promote its vaccination program, and the UN, which tapped TPS  for its climate campaign around COP26.