A number of popular cryptocurrency trading companies have taken a big hit since last year's Super Bowl, which featured a number of cryptocurrency advertisements.
Last year's Super Bowl, a game between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, featured numerous cryptocurrency advertisements, prompting many to use the term "Crypto Bowl" when referring to the game. The game featured commercials from cryptocurrency trading firms like CoinBase, Crypto.com, FTX and eToro.
However, this year's Super Bowl, between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, is not expected to have any crypto advertising, and many of the trading firms that advertised last year have taken a major hit. Mark Evans, the executive vice president of advertising sales for Fox Sports told the Associated Press that "there's zero representation" of cryptocurrency in this year's Super Bowl.
The lack of cryptocurrency advertisements in the upcoming Super Bowl this year comes after the fallout of FTX. In November, the cryptocurrency trading firm filed for bankruptcy and the firm's former CEO and founder, Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested on several charges which included money laundering and securities fraud.
Following the collapse of FTX, many popular cryptocurrency trading firms faced financial issues.
CoinBase, one of the popular cryptocurrency trading applications, had an advertisement during last year's Super Bowl that featured a QR code. Shortly after the advertisement aired during the big game, CoinBase's stock price increased in value. According to Google stock prices, shares of CoinBase traded at around $208 to $189, in the days after the Super Bowl. However, the current price has decreased and CoinBase shares are currently listed at $57.
While crypto.com is not publicly traded, the company announced last month that it was laying off 20 percent of its workforce.
"Several factors played into our decision to reduce headcount. While we continue to perform well, growing to more than 70 million users worldwide and maintaining a strong balance sheet, we've had to navigate ongoing economic headwinds and unforeseeable industry events," the company said in a blog post. "The reductions we made last July positioned us to weather the macro economic downturn, but it did not account for the recent collapse of FTX, which significantly damaged trust in the industry. It's for this reason, as we continue to focus on prudent financial management, we made the difficult but necessary decision to make additional reductions in order to position the company for long-term success."
The price of Bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency, has also decreased in price following last year's Super Bowl crypto push. According to Coindesk, one Bitcoin is currently priced at $21,598. In comparison, shortly after last year's Super Bowl, Bitcoin's price was listed in the $40,000 range.
Newsweek reached out to CoinBase and crypto.com for comment.
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