The 2022 Super Bowl was almost entirely full of crypto campaigns. Many had labeled it as the “Crypto Bowl”. Four major crypto exchanges had run ads during the Super Bowl halftime, namely, FTX, Binance, Crypto.com, and BitBuy. These companies poured out millions of dollars for their few minutes of airtime.
It was the first time cryptocurrency companies advertised during a major athletic event on American television. While it was regarded as a watershed moment for the business at the time, it’s now being dubbed a miss two months later.
Experts believe macroeconomic conditions played a role. More particular, the prevailing view continues to be that cryptocurrency is risky.
Crypto companies saw the Super Bowl in 2022 as an opportunity to increase adoption and brand recognition. To differentiate themselves from competitors, businesses went to great lengths. But most importantly, to send the message that cryptocurrency is ready for mainstream acceptance and acknowledgment.
However, now that the dust has settled, analysts believe the “Crypto Bowl” did not have the intended effect.
Crypto Super Bowl took an L?
Because of the enormous number of trading venues around the world that are subject to little or no regulatory monitoring and create data of questionable trustworthiness, precisely measuring crypto activity is difficult. Analysts like Acheson rely on the trading data provided by larger, more well-known exchanges, which are thought to be more reliable.
Noelle Acheson, Head of Market Insights at Genesis Trading, commented while looking at the trading volume,
“We did not see a massive influx of retail investors into crypto after the Super Bowl ad. Volumes are low because of a huge amount of uncertainty in the markets.”
People are worried about how things will turn out now that the Russian-Ukraine war has picked up where the health crisis left off. Not to mention the possibility of rising inflation and the resulting cost-of-living problem sweeping the globe.
Was the campaign really a failure?
The intent of the crypto firms’ was to spread awareness among the people. And in that respect, the mission was accomplished. The average number of people watching the Super Bowl in 2022 was 112 million, up 16% from last year. Super Bowl LVI was the most-watched program in the previous two years.
Being aired during the Super Bowl halftime is a sign of legitimacy, and that message was loud and clear among the people. Additionally, digital asset users are growing at a current rate of over 100% a year; well ahead of the adoption rate of the internet back in the 1990s and early 2000s. Even If this rate of adoption slows down by 50%, cryptocurrency will still hit 500-million users by 2024. That means one in every sixteen-person on this planet will be interacting or using crypto in some way or another.
The reasons for low trade volumes have nothing to do with the crypto ad campaign. As mentioned above, it has more to do with global geopolitics and a general feeling of uncertainty. Inflation, war, and uncertainty have surely spooked investors from putting their hard-earned money into a volatile and risky asset. But the blame does not lie on the Super Bowl crypto campaign.