Crypto firms trade in celebrity endorsements

The Future. Even in the techy world of crypto, nothing makes as much noise as celebrity backing. Exchanges, wallets, and ATM companies are turning to beloved talent to draw new users and build trust in the new (and daunting) currency. The bet is paying off — the entertainment industry at large is already going through its own crypto-adoption… showing that if there’s money to be made, it may not be that hard of a pitch.

Coin it
Crypto firms are minting celebrity ambassadors.

• Crypto exchange FTX created a $20 million ad campaign starring NFL quarterback Tom Brady and wife Gisele Bündchen.
• FTX also gave NBA star Steph Curry an equity stake to be a brand ambassador and became the official crypto partner of the MLB.
• Coin Cloud recruited filmmaker Spike Lee for a high-profile commercial, where he declared “Old money is out, and new money is in.”
• CoinFlip cast Neil Patrick Harris, who himself was an early Bitcoin investor, in a series of commercials.

CoinFlip CEO Ben Weiss said that Harris’ hiring was strategic: “In order to reach real mainstream adoption, I think the power of celebrity can convert skeptical consumers, or consumers who haven’t heard enough about cryptocurrency.”

Praise the revenue stream
But turning top talent onto crypto is actually becoming pretty easy. Many top entertainment companies are getting in on the game, including United Talent Agency (with its signing of Rally), AMC Theaters (planning on accepting crypto at the box office), and Fox (with its creation of Blockchain Creative Labs). Even actors, like Terry Crews, are launching their own proprietary social currencies. We’re just at the beginning of a sea change.

And advertisers — that all-important revenue generator — are taking notice. Data firm EDO reported that during the NFL’s kickoff game this season, FTX ads “outperformed” every other commercial that aired, except for one by Chevrolet. It drove half a million searches for the exchange just two minutes after it aired.