By Hannah Lang

(Reuters] – Crypto businesses are betting that mainstream sports advertising will be a success. Crypto.com’s Super Bowl commercials and a $700m deal to rename Los Angeles’ Staples Center into the Crypto.com Arena last year have been the biggest hits.

Little known a year ago, the privately owned Singapore company ran a flashy Super Bowl ad alongside mega brands https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/super-bowl-ads-are-moving-pandemic-with-humor-hope-2022-02-10 such as Budweiser, GM and Pringles, as well as rival crypto platforms, in a push to dramatically grow its user base.

Super Bowl ads were also released by Bitbuy, FTX, and eToro. Crypto.com did not announce the game, but it was the latest promotional push.

Last year, it launched a $100 million advertising campaign across 20 countries starring actor Matt Damon https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/staples-center-los-angeles-be-renamed-cryptocom-arena-2021-11-17, inked sponsorship deals https://frontofficesports.com/crypto-com-tops-400m-in-sports-deals-with-sixers-patch with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Formula 1 Racing, and got 20 years of naming rights to the former Staples Center. The Super Bowl Music Fest was held at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday evening.

Crypto.com, six years old, is the global brand for Foris, which operates under the Foris name. Crypto.com does not disclose its financials and Crypto.com claims it doesn’t have Wall Street investors.

There have been some eyebrows raised by its aggressive marketing efforts. It is seen as an indicator that the bubble-like crypto market may 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.

Crypto.com was founded in 2016 by entrepreneurs based in Hong Kong. According to CryptoCompare, it is currently the sixth largest cryptocurrency exchange according to daily volume. According to Kris Marszalek, the CEO of Crypto.com, it has over 10 million users and wants to grow that number, and be a global top-20 brand.

Its strategy is to get in front of every day Americans via sports partnerships. Super Bowl advertisement reaches approximately 100 million viewers. Broadcaster NBC charges up to $7 million per 30 second.

“If you’re reaching 150 million potentially in one event, it could pay for itself pretty quickly,” said Paul Rogash, chief executive officer of BetU, a crypto sports betting platform.

The crypto market had a dizzying year in 2021, as money flooded in, pushing the value of all cryptocurrencies to more than $3 trillion https://www.reuters.com/technology/bitcoin-hits-new-record-crypto-market-cap-exceeds-3-tln-2021-11-08.

Crypto.com has tried to break ahead of the pack with high-profile partnerships including one announced last month with basketball superstar https://crypto.com/company-news/lebron-james-and-the-lebron-james-family-foundation-announce-multi-year-partnership-with-crypto-com Lebron James of the Los Angeles Lakers who will play their home games at the Crypto.com Arena.

Wally Pfister was the Oscar-winning cinematographer who directed Damon’s commercial. The ad was so popular that South Park made a parody of it during its February 2 premiere.

“The playbook they’re playing is, we’ve got lots of cash. Let’s get our name out there,” said Robert Siegel, a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a venture investor.

Crypto.com did not respond to our request for comment.

CRYPTO-BUBBLE

It was originally a cryptocurrency wallet and payment platform called Monaco. In 2017, it raised $25 million via an initial coin offer. It was rebranded as Crypto.com in 2018 and began a cryptocurrency exchange in 2019.

Crypto.com, like its competitors, earns fees for transactions as well as debit cards that are offered through partnership with Visa (NYSE. It also has a 500 million-dollar venture arm, which invests in cryptocurrency and blockchain startups.

According to its website, the company has 3,000 employees globally and has openings for 584 roles https://crypto.com/us/careers in marketing, human resources, compliance, engineering and business development, among others.

The staffing levels are higher than those of Coinbase, the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange (NASDAQ:), who has 2,781 workers. Coinbase was founded in 2012 with 72 million users.

Crypto.com stated last year that it is expanding its institutional client base. This includes market makers and hedge funds.

Crypto.com, unlike Coinbase or Binance that are competing with Wall Street investors says it hasn’t raised any institutional financing. Bloomberg was informed by Marszalek in January that the company’s revenue grew 22 times last year.

Siegel stated, “They are probably making a lot money in a time when a market’s insanely speculative.”

Some people liken the Crypto.com boom and its rapid growth to that of the dot.com bubble in which many hyper-inflated tech companies collapsed. They warn that digital investments are at risk and investors will likely drop them if the U.S. Federal Reserve raises rates.

To 2022, cryptocurrencies are off to a bad start. They fell below $40,000 for only the second time since their fall.

Crypto.com is fighting to stay ahead of the pullback. Mark Basa (global brand manager, HOKK Finance), a cryptocurrency company, stated that Crypto.com was doing everything possible to do so.

“I think that they’ll win that race,” he added.