Crypto's Super Bowl Moment Shrinks to Single Coinbase Ad

Crypto’s Super Bowl presence has shrunk from a multi-company marketing blitz to a single exchange’s sing-along, with Coinbase returning to the big game alone this year, as the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl LX.

Four years after Coinbase brought its viral bouncing QR-code commercial to the “Crypto Bowl,” the exchange aired the only major crypto ad during this year’s Super Bowl broadcast—unlike Super Bowl LVI, which featured celebrity campaigns from multiple firms, including the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.

The one-minute spot featured karaoke-style on-screen lyrics from the Backstreet Boys’ 1997 hit “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” turning the screen into a coordinated sing-along rather than a call to scan a code or claim a token reward.

"Turning 100M+ screens into karaoke, so the whole U.S. (and many around the world) can sing in unison, is an antidote to polarization and just plain fun. Everybody deserves economic freedom,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted.

Social media reactions proved divisive, with some viewers praising the nostalgia while others questioned the execution.

When one user tweeted, "The @coinbase ad was terrible," Coinbase responded, "If you're talking about it, it worked. Crypto is for everybody."

Another user shared a video of a watch party where attendees sang along to the Backstreet Boys lyrics but immediately booed when Coinbase's logo appeared on screen.

Rethinking crypto marketing

Industry analysts say Coinbase's approach reflects lessons learned from the previous cycle's aggressive marketing.

"It's an interesting way to capture the attention of the audience to the fact that Bitcoin is mainstream again," Musheer Ahmed, Founder & MD of Finstep Asia, told Decrypt. "Last year, it was the early days of the current administration, and regulations had not yet changed towards being positive for crypto. This ad probably wants to make that point."

Ahmed highlighted the ad's messaging strategy, noting how the "Yeaah" chorus emphasized key crypto narratives: "am I Original" for authenticity and traceability, "am I secure" for Bitcoin's security features, and "am I for everyone" for financial inclusion.

Meanwhile, Sudhakar Lakshmanaraja, founder of Digital South Trust, a Web3 policy advocacy body, questioned whether simplicity still works in today's regulatory environment.

“Today, governments are prioritising consumer protection, risk awareness, and compliance, and crypto communication must reflect that shift,” Lakshmanaraja told Decrypt, adding that now impact depends on trust-focused, compliance-aligned messaging, not hype.

Kadan Stadelmann, Chief Technology Officer at Komodo Platform, defended the Super Bowl investment strategy despite the premium pricing.

"There is no American event with more eyeballs on it than the Super Bowl. And it makes sense then for companies targeting American consumers to pay the piper," he told Decrypt. "Not spending on any traditional media other than on this is perhaps the best traditional media advertising strategy in 2026."

Decrypt has reached out to Coinbase for additional comment.

Crypto and the Super Bowl

Coinbase’s 2022 Super Bowl debut ad showed a floating QR code that drove over 20 million visits in a minute, crashing its site, yet still generated massive buzz and won a Super Clio award for creative excellence despite the technical failure.

That year's Super Bowl featured at least six crypto advertisers, including FTX with a Larry David commercial, Crypto.com with LeBron James and a Matt Damon "Fortune Favors the Brave" campaign, and eToro, marking what became known as the "Crypto Bowl."

FTX’s Super Bowl ad featured David balking at FTX’s billing as a “safe and easy way to get into crypto”—something that looked eerily prescient after the exchange’s November 2022 collapse triggered industry contagion, leading to fraud convictions for Sam Bankman-Fried and other executives, and class-action lawsuits against promoters including David, Tom Brady, and Gisele Bündchen.