How Crypto.com is betting big on sports partnerships to reach a billion users

Crypto companies are betting sports advertising will help them go mainstream and none have made a bigger splash than Crypto.com with a commercial on Sunday's (Feb 13) Super Bowl and a US$700 million deal last year to rename the Staples Center in Los Angeles as the Crypto.com Arena.

Little known a year ago, the privately owned Singapore company ran a flashy Super Bowl ad alongside mega brands such as Budweiser, GM and Pringles, as well as rival crypto platforms, in a push to dramatically grow its user base.

Other crypto platforms FTX, Bitbuy and eToro also ran Super Bowl ads - with varying results. Coinbase had a surge in traffic following its ad which resulted in the app crashing briefly over the weekend.

For Crypto.com, the game was just the latest publicity push.

Last year, it launched a US$100 million advertising campaign across 20 countries starring actor Matt Damon, inked sponsorship deals with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Formula 1 Racing, and got 20 years of naming rights to the former Staples Center. On Thursday night, the Crypto.com Arena hosted the Super Bowl Music Fest.

Six-year-old Crypto.com is the brand name for a global group of entities operating under the name Foris DAX. Its financials are not fully public and Crypto.com has not disclosed its investors, although it says it has no Wall Street backers.

Its aggressive marketing push has raised eyebrows. Some see it as a sign the frothy crypto market is a bubble about to burst.

“There's a huge amount of money that is sloshing around the system at the moment, and therefore, everyone is in land-grab territory and looking for ways to put it to work,” said Adam Shapiro, a partner at investment firm Klaros Group.

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