LIKE MOST PEOPLE, I first heard of Crypto.com when Matt Damon popped up on my TV screen and suggested I was a coward. I've followed cryptocurrencies for over a decade, but I've never invested in them-beyond money laundering, I'd never been able to understand what they were good for. Seeing Damon, though, I understood that the public perception of the technology had reached a new phase. And, yes, I felt in danger of being left behind. Damon's commercial is part of a larger, sports-focused marketing push by Crypto.com: The cryptocurrency exchange's lion-head logo appears on the ice of the NHL, in the octagon of the UFC, and on the jerseys of the Philadelphia 76ers. Last November, the company announced it had purchased the naming rights to the downtown arena of the Los Angeles Lakers, at the cost of $700 million; during this year's Super Bowl, Crypto.com aired an advertisement featuring LeBron James. In March, it announced it will be sponsoring the World Cup.
Crypto.com, as it currently exists, earns most of its money executing trades for clients via its smartphone app. (The company courts the small investor, and several people I talked to compared Crypto.com to the investing app Robinhood.) But charging fees to trade cryptocurrencies is a lucrative business, and rival exchanges like FTX and Coinbase are fighting for the same customers. FTX owns the stadium-naming rights for the Miami Heat, and Coinbase-which went public last year, reporting higher profit margins than Google-is the NBA's exclusive cryptocurrency-platform partner. If the 76ers travel to Miami for a nationally televised game, you will see all three brands advertising on the same broadcast.
This story is from the June - July 2022 edition of GQ India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June - July 2022 edition of GQ India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
In Haider We Hope
The role of a fashion designer is one usually forged in chaos and fired down by “creative differences”. But on the eve of a new Tom Ford directorship, Haider Ackermann has never felt more free.
VIVA VARUN
Varun Dhawan on balancing fatherhood and film shoots, and the pressure of making the right choices.
PRATIK GANDHI'S QUIET EUPHORIA
The actor―who delivered a knockout performance in Madgaon Expresson the high of a hit and the pressure of sustaining success.
THE COMEBACK KID
Buoyed by his performance in Singham Returns, Arjun Kapoor doubles down on creativity.
SCRIPTING STARDOM
Vicky Kaushal on the thrill and terror of stepping onto a Sanjay Leela Bhansali set, charting an unconventional career, and making sense of the money game.
A TRYST WITH STARDOM
Triptii Dimri segued from her left-field roots straight to the animal park. The gamble has paid off.
WALKING A TIGHTROPE
Following the monster success of Stree 2, Rajkummar Rao opens up about navigating artistic fulfilment and box-office glory.
THE MAHARAJA OF MEHRAULI
It's been an action-packed year for Tarun Tahiliani, the emperor of Indian couture.
LONE WARRIOR
Kartik Aaryan on why, in an industry that only watches out for its own, he has to blow his own trumpet.
HITS AND HEARTBREAKS
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali talks about redeeming himself with the extraordinary Chamkila, dealing with star-studded setbacks, and why we've forgotten to make love stories.
