Year after 'Crypto Bowl,' crypto ads vanish from big game

NEW YORK (AP) — How the mighty have fallen.

Cryptocurrency companies grabbed the spotlight during the 2022 Super Bowl, with commercials from a handful of newcomers to advertising’s biggest stage: FTX, Coinbase, Crypto.com and eToro. Some marketing experts dubbed it the “Crypto Bowl.”

A year later, the industry has been humbled by a massive downturn in crypto prices, as well as the bankruptcy of several well-known companies.

The dramatic turnaround harkens back to 2000, when dot-com companies such as Pets.com ran Super Bowl ads, only to go out of business within a year or two.

This year, crypto companies have “zero representation,” said Mark Evans, executive vice president of ad sales for Fox Sports.

Here’s a look at the crypto companies that advertised in last year’s Super Bowl and where they stand now:

FTX: BANKRUPT

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX was one of biggest advertisers in last year’s Super Bowl, featuring ads that included celebrity comedian Larry David. While at the time FTX was the world’s second or third largest crypto exchange, it didn’t operate a large business in the U.S.

Within 10 months of the Super Bowl, FTX was bankrupt. The Bahamas-based company collapsed after investors started pulling their deposits on concerns about the company’s balance sheet. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 11.

FTX's founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested and charged with defrauding customers out of billions of dollars. He is scheduled to go on trial in October.

David, along with other celebrities such as football star Tom Brady and basketball star Stephen Curry, was named in a lawsuit that argued their celebrity status made them culpable for promoting the firm’s failed business model.

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