Super Bowl ads spark public interest; Coinbase site crashes due to traffic

Super Bowl ads spark public interest; Coinbase site crashes due to traffic

Coinbase's platform and app were temporarily taken offline on Sunday after it debuted its $14 million advertisement during the U.S. National Football League's Super Bowl sporting event.

The ad, which includes a floating QR code box that bounces on the screen for 60 seconds, redirects to a Advertising page on its website, offering new users signups worth $15 in Bitcoin. The ultra-minimalist, retro-style display was reminiscent of early computer or console games from the 1970s and 80s.

Shortly after the ad went live in hundreds of millions of homes across the U.S., Twitter users began reporting issues connecting to the exchange's website and app. It is the first ad that Coinbase has run for the sporting event.

The mishap calls into question Coinbase's stability during times of heavy website traffic, which has previously caused instability issues in the past. The platform was shut down several times last year and in 2020 following erratic trading and subsequent declines in Bitcoin prices.

The issue, which only lasted a few minutes, has since been resolved and users can now access the website along with the promo page, which includes messages such as “Less Talk, More Bitcoin” and “WAGMI.”

However, at press time, Coinbase is experiencing issues with Google Pay and is directing customers to use alternative payment methods Status page.

While the influx of interest briefly drove the platform's website and app offline, said Surojit Chatterjee, Coinbase's chief product officer tweeted Sunday that Coinbase experienced “more traffic” than “ever experienced,” causing engineers to have to throttle traffic.

“We are now back and ready for you,” Chatterjee said in his tweet. “Humbled to have witnessed it.”

Super Bowl ads from other industries

Various industry participants were also present during the Super Bowl commercial breaks.

Comedian, writer, director and actor Larry David was featured in an ad for crypto derivatives exchange FTX that compared the platform to famous inventions throughout history:

The Crypto.com exchange included a skit with basketball star Lebron James imparting wisdom to his younger self:

Promoting “social investing,” eToro’s ad featured a swarm of flying retailers set to a cover of “Fly Me To The Moon” – the classic 1950s ballad Bart Howard became famous by Frank Sinatra during NASA's Apollo lunar missions.

Meanwhile, Canadian exchange Bitbuy ran an ad featuring its own sports star Kyle Lowry Facebook and TurboTax Marketing purchases also touched crypto.

Last year, Super Bowl LV generated $434.5 million in in-game advertising revenue, with an average price of about $6.5 million per 30-second segment. For every dollar spent on the coveted prime time slot, an average return on investment of $4.60 was achieved - more than four times the original spend, according to the provider Kantar.

Macauley Peterson contributed reporting for this story.

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The post-Super Bowl ads are generating public interest; Coinbase Site Crashes From Traffic is not financial advice.