Crypto.com’s FIFA World Cup Win Is Overshadowed by FTX Industry Chaos
At Sunday's World Cup championship final between France and Argentina, Crypto.com will have a highly coveted seat right on the sideline, with the digital-asset exchange's name plastered on the wall just feet from both teams' star players. For viewers still smarting from rival FTX's implosion, the signage may put a damper on their revelry.
Crypto.com's field position is a highly visible symbol of how aggressively crytocurrency companies once courted mainstream investors by pouring billions into advertising and sports sponsorships as the speculative mania peaked, culminating in a blitz by FTX during last year's US Super Bowl. But the bubble has now burst, FTX is bankrupt, its former CEO is facing fraud charges — and Crypto.com is standing out as crypto's remaining major sports patron.
The Super Bowl and the World Cup bookend a turbulent year for crypto, whose fortunes have dramatically reversed course as tokens like Bitcoin tumbled precipitously and a series of blowups rocked the sector, hammering investors with losses that have left them soured on the industry.
Because many sponsorship agreements are intended to last for years, some of them will stick around despite crypto's malaise. But teams and leagues have scrambled to call off deals with FTX, whose co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested this week for allegedly misappropriating billions of customers' funds. Meanwhile, by casting a cloud over the entire industry, FTX's collapse is threatening a once-lucrative collaboration between professional sports and an industry that saw its fans as a major source of potential customers.
“Whether they're willing to take the risk in accepting crypto money remains to be seen,” said Peter Laatz of sponsorship researcher IEG
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