PANews reported on March 18 that Solana released a video advertisement on Monday to promote its May New York conference, but the video was deleted within hours after it was accused of being disrespectful due to its content involving gender issues. Although the official video has been removed, it is still widely circulated on social platform X.
In the video, a character named "America" is being treated for "rational thinking syndrome" and the therapist asks her to "create a new gender" or "pay attention to pronouns." The character said: "I want to lead global technological innovation and build an on-chain ecosystem, not to invent gender." This content has been criticized as disrespectful to gender and queer groups.
Many industry insiders expressed dissatisfaction with this. Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran called the advertisement "simply unbelievable", while David McIntyre, former director of the Solana Foundation, said that Solana could have conveyed a more positive message instead of making fun of serious social issues.
The Solana Foundation previously stated that it is committed to "diversity, equity and respect" and has not yet responded further to this incident.
