According to reports, Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase‘s Super Bowl LVI ad caused it to crash and pushed it to the top of the App Store.
During a commercial break for the big game between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, Coinbase ran a simple ad showing a QR code bouncing around a black screen for 60 seconds. Those that scanned the code were taken directly to Coinbase’s site and met with an invitation to receive $15 USD in free Bitcoin for signing up and a chance to win $3 million USD in prizes. The push to enter the world of cryptocurrency saw the exchange receive an unprecedented 20 million hit surge in traffic forcing its site to crash. Forced to “throttle traffic for a few minutes,” the Coinbase team was able to get the site back up.
It has been reported that 30-second Super Bowl LVI costed around $6.5 million-$7 million USD, Coinbase bought the slot for their commercial for $14 million USD. Aside from Coinbase’s ad, this year we also saw commercials from other crypto names like FTX, Crypto.com and eToro that looked to increase its users with the 100 million people tuned into the game.
Catch Coinbase Chief Product Officer Surojit Chatterjee‘s tweets below.
Some more details. We had over 20M hits on our landing page in one minute. That was historic and unprecedented. We also saw engagement that was 6 times higher than our previous benchmarks. We’re ready for you at https://t.co/VobV6m9vSo #WAGMI https://t.co/d9A2aAEEaC
— Surojit (@surojit) February 14, 2022
— Surojit (@surojit) February 14, 2022
Oh wow that was more popular than we expected, but don’t worry … we’re all still going to make it! Check your emails if you had a problem and sign up/see terms for our $15 BTC giveaway here → https://t.co/fKHisXZJJc #WAGMI pic.twitter.com/ie7VXPS2xy
— Coinbase (@coinbase) February 14, 2022
Did you scan it?
— Surojit (@surojit) February 14, 2022
Did you catch @coinbase Ad at the #superbowl? There’s never been a better time to try crypto! #WAGMI https://t.co/nytnBQ2sDO
— Surojit (@surojit) February 14, 2022
In case you missed it, CryptoPunk #5822 was sold for a record-breaking 8,000 ETH, $23.7 million USD.
wazup.