The Crypto Bowl

Hi all, it’s Hannah Miller in San Francisco. If anyone in the U.S. didn’t know what Bitcoin was before the Super Bowl, they do now. But firs [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi all, it’s Hannah Miller in San Francisco. If anyone in the U.S. didn’t know what Bitcoin was before the Super Bowl, they do now. But first… Today’s top tech news: - Apple boosts [retail worker pay]( to cope with the tight labor market - Cisco is said to have recently made a [$20 billion offer for Splunk]( - IBM execs called older workers “dinobabies,” according to an [age discrimination suit]( filing Crypto’s Super Bowl play There’s no more grandiose way for a business to declare it’s entered the mainstream than buying Super Bowl ads. Which is why it was surprising Coinbase Global Inc.’s ad looked so low-budget. Rather than a celebrity cameo, the company went with a bouncing QR code reminiscent of a DVD player screensaver. The ad’s code led to an offer of $15 in free Bitcoin for new users who sign up for Coinbase — and was so popular it [crashed the website](. Along with Coinbase, digital currency exchanges like FTX Trading Ltd. and Crypto.com also ran ads in front of millions of people at Super Bowl LVI, earning the game the nickname the “[Crypto Bowl](.” The FTX spot featured Larry David being theatrically skeptical of crypto trading. Crypto.com showed LeBron James in conversation with his younger self rendered through some sort of creepy CGI. And Crypto trading platform eToro Ltd. brought out an adorable Dogecoin-esque Shiba Inu. To a large extent, crypto companies have already infiltrated mainstream marketing through sports arena re-namings and sponsorship deals with Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. But by purchasing Super Bowl ads that can cost $7 million for a 30-second spot, the exchanges sent a message: They’re major players that are here to stay. (Oh, and buy Bitcoin.) It’s a delicate time for the crypto industry: Declining coin prices, looming regulation and an association with hacks and scams have given crypto a reputation as a bubble ready to pop, especially in recent weeks. [FTX]( and [Coinbase’s]( commercials also ran alongside sweepstakes from both companies — highlighting the fact that success in crypto often boils down to chance. Is the ad blitz worth it? In an industry where blind faith bolsters many of the coins traded on these exchanges, big commercials may be a good way to pull in crypto converts on a large scale. And they could win over the kind of risk-averse, normie investor class that has already helped send prices soaring. On the other hand, a hokey, 30-second ad might not be enough to convince people who are too suspicious of, or too daunted by, crypto to start trading. After all, most people probably share [Larry David’s distrust](. The crypto spending calls to mind the hyped-up tech companies that forked over big money for Super Bowl ads in 2000, when the dot-com era was in full swing. Pets.com, for example, ran a commercial featuring a singing sock puppet before going public in February 2000. But as the tech bubble burst, the pet supplies seller saw its stock price crash before shutting down later that year. But there are indications that these companies have stronger moorings than Pets.com. Cryptocurrencies, after all, have already come a long way in terms of mainstream recognition, so much so that the industry is referenced by other companies’ ads. Budweiser included non-fungible token imagery in a Super Bowl ad for a new zero-carb beverage. And Expedia’s commercial took a [subtle dig]( at crypto purchases, implying that it’s better to spend money on travel. Meanwhile, two NFT owners headlined the halftime show. Both Eminem and Snoop Dogg have Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, coveted status symbols among crypto enthusiasts. Snoop Dogg is also apparently [a Dogecoin fan](. As to whether the coming years will see a retread of the Super Bowl-to-flameout trajectory of Pets.com, it’s worth noting that some of the tech companies that advertised during the [Dot-Com Bowl]( in 2000 did make it out alive. E*Trade Financial Corp. ran an ad Sunday featuring its [talking spokesbaby](. And MicroStrategy Inc. is still around, too — though currently it's less known for its software business than it is for [buying up]( Bitcoin. —[Hannah Miller](mailto:hmiller129@bloomberg.net) Here’s what you need to know The Bolt co-founder called Silicon Valley elite “mob bosses” and a “boys club,” in a tweetstorm that melted down tech Twitter. Bloomberg profiles the 27-year-old paper billionaire who lives in Miami, does shuffle dancing on TikTok wearing tie-dye, and [now has to justify an $11 billion valuation]( with a revenue multiple in the hundreds. If you read one thing It’s not just crypto startups running Super Bowl ads. Meta and [plenty of other tech companies]( also shelled out for a spot. Amazon and Spotify are said to be exploring bids for [podcasting group Audioboom](. VC Chris Dixon, of Andreessen Horowitz, explains [his love for web3](. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman argues that Peloton should [quit hardware](. Follow Us More from Bloomberg Dig gadgets or video games? [Sign up for Power On]( to get Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more in your inbox on Sundays. [Sign up for Game On]( to go deep inside the video game business, delivered on Fridays. Why not try both? 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