Super Bowl bitcoin giveaway sees FTX lure customers to crypto exchange

Crypto exchange to offer massive prize to US viewers of the 2022 Super Bowl

The FTX crypto exchange is doing a bitcoin giveaway for Super Bowl 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)

A million-dollar bitcoin giveaway is among several stunts being carried out by crypto companies during this year’s Super Bowl in an effort to reach a more mainstream audience.

Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange, FTX announced it would give out four “grand prizes” of up to $1.5 million each, depending on what time its ad is aired during Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

“We’re making our Big Game debut and giving away the time our ad runs in bitcoin,” the firm explained.

“Each winner will receive bitcoin deposited into their FTX account. The amount of bitcoin to be deposited will be equal to the ET time (hour and minute) that sponsor’s 13 February, 2022 television commercial begins to be aired on NBC.”

Follow our live coverage of the crypto market

FTX noted in its rules for the BTC giveaway that no purchase is necessary to enter, however the promotion requires anyone wishing to take part to follow and retweet the exchange’s official Twitter account, and to create an FTX account if they win.

Other crypto-related companies planning to run high-profile ads during the lucrative half-time slots include Crypto.com, eToro and Bitbuy, as they seek to reach an estimated audience of 92 million viewers.

“From Sunday, investing will never be the same,” tweeted eToro, which offers bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA) through its online trading platform.

Crypto price tracker CoinMarketCap, which is owned by rival exchange Binance, suggested that the advertising blitz could potentially have a negative impact on the market.

“It could be argued that the sheer number of crypto ads may overwhelm viewers tucking into chicken wings and beer for the showdown,” the platform noted in a blog post. “The Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event in America, and what remains to be seen is whether the deluge of adverts will have an impact on the markets.”

The price of bitcoin has swung wildly in recent months, even by its own volatile standards, peaking above a record high of $68,000 in November before crashing below $34,000 in January.

It has since rallied, along with other leading cryptocurrencies, to return above $44,000, with some analysts pinning the recovery to the recent ad blitz from crypto firms.

The latest market report from the Luno exchange noted that optimism was returning to the market, with trading metrics suggesting that “momentum is brewing”, according to the firm’s UK manager Sam Kopelman.

“Climbing back from its losses, bitcoin is up 15 per cent over the past seven days as optimism finally returns to the market,” he noted.

“Most of these gains came on Friday when it broke through the $40,000 barrier as the price increased by 11 per cent – the highest daily gain in eight months... That said, traders remain cautious, and rightly so.”