From betting, salaries, to ads, crypto comes to the Super Bowl LVI – here are the details

• The recent Super Bowl LVI match saw Drake place over $1 million in crypto (Bitcoin) across three bets.
• The game also featured intriguing ads by digital asset exchange companies FTX and Coinbase.

The world of sports is taking up crypto at a breakneck pace – from soccer, basketball, ESports, and now the legendary Super Bowl. The latest events surround the Super Bowl LVI game, where crypto bets and crypto ads made noteworthy highlights.

Ahead of the Sunday evening game, famous rapper and sports enthusiast Drake laid out nearly $1.3 million in a series of bets. Per screenshots on his Instagram page, he wagered $600,000 on the Los Angeles Rams triumphing over the Cincinnati Bengals. He also bet $500,000 that the famed wide receiver, Odell Beckham Jr (OBJ), would earn a touchdown, and another $500,000 that he’d run 62.5 receiving yards.

Drake bets and wins crypto in a Super Bowl Game

Interestingly, Drake’s bets were all in Bitcoin and they were made on the crypto-supporting online betting app Stake. Winning all bets meant obtaining $2.29 million, or a profit of over $1 million. 

“All bets are in on the family,” Drake, who is friends with Beckham, wrote in a caption.

Beckham’s response to news of Drake’s bets was, “Man, I’ve got to come through for him!”

And come through he did. Beckham managed one touchdown before halftime. He, however, suffered a knee injury in the second quarter of the game. But even then, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. The “Toosie Slide” hitmaker, therefore, made a rather impressive cashback on his bets.

Beckham has also shown himself to be a crypto enthusiast after agreeing to receive his salary in Bitcoin this season. Unfortunately, Bitcoin tanked briefly after he signed the deal, but is now showing signs of recuperation at about $42,000.

Coinbase and FTX ads

As for promotions, the Super Bowl match featured two rather interesting crypto ads from crypto exchanges FTX and Coinbase. The ad by FTX featured Larry David, star of the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” TV show. In it, Davis scoffs at various historical landmark inventions using his trademark word “Nah.” Among them are the wheel, the fork, the toilet, the light bulb, and moon travel among others. In the last shot, he turns down a pitch for using FTX to get into crypto. The ad insinuates that ignoring crypto is a loss, seeing as all the other inventions he turned down ended up flourishing. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried pictured the ad as one beyond Super Bowl’s famously high standards – and it seems to have achieved just that.

Coinbase’s ad was a 30-second commercial of a QR code linking Super Bowl enthusiasts and players to the exchange’s website. The ad was so popular that it ended up crashing Coinbase’s website. Thereafter, Coinbase posted a $15 giveaway for anyone who signed up by Feb. 15. At this adoption rate, it’s evident that there’s not much that can hold crypto back.