But Coinbase felt the pressure to deliver standout creative four years after making a Super Bowl splash in 2022 with its famous 60-second spot displaying a floating QR code — a defining moment that helped Coinbase stand out against a field of rivals during the so-called “Crypto Bowl.”
Since that moment, crypto’s star has faded. FTX, a one-time Coinbase competitor that also advertised in that Super Bowl, has since been bankrupted and seen its founder Sam Bankman-Fried imprisoned for fraud. A frenzied crypto selloff this month, meanwhile, has seen Bitcoin’s value drop 20% since the start of 2026.
Coinbase was the only crypto brand that invested in a Super Bowl spot this year, and it did so despite industry headwinds and the growing price of Super Bowl media — NBCUniversal charged upwards of $10 million for some 30-second in-game spots.
“There aren’t many forums with 120 million people watching,” Staples said.
Coinbase believed the Backstreet Boys were the ideal vehicle for its message, and it wasn’t deterred when they learned “early on” that T-Mobile was working with the band for its own Super Bowl spot.
In fact, Staples said, Coinbase doesn’t mind the comparisons of its ad with T-Mobile’s, because the approaches are distinct — and both brands might benefit from the chatter pitting the two against each other.
Plus, “They’re very different approaches to advertising,” Staples said.
Andrew Panay didn’t say whether T-Mobile knew that Coinbase was also airing a Backstreet Boys spot. But the fact that both brands did was testament to the band’s enduring cultural sway, he said.
“The Backstreet Boys have legacy, they have freshness, they have long-time fans, new fans, male and female fans. Gen Z and boomers know their music. They have extremely broad appeal,” he said.
Neither brands specified the total investment value of their campaigns.
Advertising industry insiders were amused and surprised by the Backstreet Boys bombardment Sunday night. “Two ads featuring the Backstreet Boys was not on my Super Bowl bingo card,” Jon Laughlin, chief creative officer at Laughlin Constable, said.
Many creatives who spoke with ADWEEK preferred the Coinbase spot.
“The winner for me, for sure, is the Coinbase spot,” said Annika Welander, CEO of creative agency Someoddpilot. “I love creative that punches so far out of its weight class.”
Amir Sahba, founder and CEO of creative agency Thinkingbox, however, felt T-Mobile won the Backstreet Bowl: “T-Mobile gave us something to feel. Coinbase gave us something confusing to figure out in real time.”Despite the varied reactions, T-Mobile’s spot ranked much higher than Coinbase’s on EDO’s TV Outcomes rankings, which measure the impact of each ad in the game based on immediate engagements that are most predictive of future sales. On that assessment, T-Mobile’s ad was 17th out of 98, while Coinbase’s ranked 47th.
