It felt like the breaks between the action in Super Bowl 56 were incomplete without at least one commercial for cryptocurrency.
Left and right, various cryptocurrency companies were running spots during the Super Bowl advertising the — at the time — up-and-coming investment. The surge in commercials dubbed that year's game, "The Crypto Bowl."
Matt Damon, LeBron James, Kyle Lowry, Larry David and other big-name celebrities popped up on millions of television screens encouraging viewers to invest in crypto as the wave of the future, telling them how everyone was getting involved in the trend. There were four companies leading the charge: FTX, Coinbase, Crypto.com and eToro.
That won't be the case in 2023. This year, there not only will be fewer crypto commercials than last year's blitzkrieg of ads, there won't be any. Why will that be the case? Here's what you need to know about this year's lack of crypto commercials.
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Why you won't see crypto Super Bowl commercials
Cryptocurrency is in a bad state. There have been lawsuits filed against companies and spokespeople, one of the major crypto companies went under and stock prices in bitcoin and other currencies have plummeted from a year ago.
Back in November, FTX went bankrupt, and a month later, founder Sam Bankman-Fried was indicted for fraud, money laundering and campaign finance, according to the Department of Justice. When news of it broke, several of the faces in those commercials from 2022 found themselves facing class-action lawsuits for their involvement in being brand ambassadors for the doomed cryptocurrency companies.
Fox executive vice president of ad sales Mark Evans told the Associated Press that there were a pair of crypto companies that were "booked and done" and two more "on the one-yard line" back in November, but when FTX went under and Bankman-Fried faced charges, the deals went uncompleted.
"There's zero representation in that category on the day at all," Evans told the AP.
According to ESPN, on Super Bowl 56 ads alone, Crypto.com spent $36.5 million, FTX dropped $36.7 million, Coinbase used $31.6 million and eToro spent $7.2 million.
This year, Coinbase and eToro confirmed to ESPN they would not have any ads during the big game, while Crypto.com did not respond to a request for comment.
That doesn't mean crypto commercials are gone for good. As ESPN noted, the markets have gone up and down, and it's possible ads for cryptocurrency
"Sometimes it's just better to stop talking and let the industry sort out, calm down, market stabilize, and then come back in when you've got a better story to tell," iSpot chief strategy and insights officer Peter Daboll told ESPN.
