Super Bowl LVII won’t be a “crypto bowl”

As LA faced off with Cincinnati for the NFL’s championship trophy, big-name celebrities like Matt Damon and LeBron James greeted TV viewers and attempted to convince them all to join the movement and invest in crypto. At the time, Bitcoin was valued at over $42,197.52 — but even after a rally in recent weeks, its price is down to $23,013.87.

FTX aired a Super Bowl commercial that starred Larry David going through different eras of human ingenuity, in which he comically remained skeptical of wheels, toilets, lightbulbs, and, well, a crypto exchange app. Now the company is in bankruptcy proceedings, and its former CEO is facing federal fraud charges — so Sam Bankman-Fried’s now-defunct exchange won’t use the 60-second advertisement slot it had lined up.

Now just because Fox Sports didn’t sell any crypto ads this year doesn’t mean you won’t see any if you’re watching. You can buy ads locally for a lot less than the $7 million 30-second national spots go for, as The Verge knows from experience.