Hollywood star Matt Damon
Actor, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker and producer Matt Damon highlighted the cryptocurrency market at the end of 2021 via an advertising campaign for the Crypto.com cryptocurrency exchange platform.
But the timing of the advertising broadcast was not optimal. Quite the contrary. It first aired on October 28, 2021, when one bitcoin was worth $60,000, less than two weeks before the digital currency’s all-time high.
The star was pilloried a few months later, in early 2022, on the television set “The Late Show” from acclaimed host Stephen Colbert who poked fun at the American actor saying “never trust groundhogs for advice, no matter how persuasive they are when they offer you crypto with Matt Damon” . The BTC is currently more than 60% lower compared to the first broadcast of the advertisement. Then for Crypto.com, the budget had to be high to afford Matt Damon… At the wrong time. Moreover, the platform recently announced that it was laying off 5% of its workforce, or 260 people, to “cope with the extreme conditions of the market”.
Buccaneers Quarterback Tom Brady
The seven-time American Super Bowl winner announced in 2021 that he was forming a partnership with the FTX platform, which is owned by American multi-billionaire Sam Bankman Fried.
In this spot, he even appears with his wife and model Gisele Bündchen. As with Matt Damon, the timing isn’t perfect. The advertisement was broadcast in September 2021, less than 2 months before the start of the bear market in the cryptocurrency market which we have not yet emerged from. But the sportsman went even further into the cryptosphere. He launched a collection of 16,600 NFTs at $80 each that sold out in less than 10 minutes and he even co-founded the NFT platform Autograph which raised $170 million. Which makes Brady one of the most committed athletes in the cryptocurrency market.
Boxing legend Mike Tyson
Iron Mike, as he is nicknamed, created in 2021 his own collection of NFTs who puts him forward with laser eyes on boxing rings.
The problem being that the average NFT price has dropped over 95% since its launch. An inglorious operation that will probably have ruined a good part of the boxing legend’s 3.0 fans.
Reese Witherspoon, American actress
The business woman which has 28 million followers on Instagram published, in December 2021, the following message on Twitter: “Crypto is here to stay”.
Crypto is here to stay. I’m committed to supporting creators who have pioneered the NFT space, and encouraging more women to be a part of the conversation. https://t.co/tq9EdwAmJC
— Reese Witherspoon (@ReeseW) December 6, 2021
A post that came just as bitcoin was beginning to falter at the $50,000 level. But that’s not all. Her media company “Hello Sunshine” formed a partnership in February 2022 to promote the “World of Women NFT” collective and collection. Since that announcement, the collection’s average price has plunged more than 75%.
French Montana, the American-Moroccan rapper
Karim Kharbouch of his real name created, on September 10, 2021, a collection of sneakers in the form of NFT entitled “CokeBoyzSneakers”. The twist was that these NFTs included real-world versions of the digital shoes. The rapper posted on Instagram “Hold on to your pair and watch the value rise.” But honestly, the underlying message of this post alone is fishy. Indeed, guaranteeing that an asset, whatever it is, will appreciate in value is not a very good sign.
Between the time of the collection’s release and the last sale, the average price of the collection dropped by 90%. The success was not there since the value of all the sales of these NFTs is equivalent to less than 3 ETH.
Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor
The owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, the Landmark Theaters theater chain and the Magnolia Pictures studio has not only done well in the crypto ecosystem. The American had, on June 13, 2021, published in a blog entitled “The Brilliance of Yield Farming” his work on a cryptocurrency called “TITAN” which allowed, via obscure processes of decentralized finance, to obtain “an annualized return of approximately 206%”. Result of the races, the asset has lost 99% of its value since the start of the bear market which began in November 2021.
The billionaire nevertheless admitted that this investment “was disastrous” but that it represented only a “very small part” of his crypto portfolio. But what about the investors he took on with him? Their wallet is perhaps more sealed than Cuban in this business.
So, what to take away from these disastrous crypto experiments?
In reality, we can think that a good number of crypto-investors trust certain projects because a public figure announces or participates in these projects in one way or another. This gives, consciously or not, some credibility to these cryptocurrencies or these NFTs. In other words, a kind of confidence settles in the asset and it is psychologically quite natural. However, as the experiences of the aforementioned celebrities prove, it becomes essential to become contrarian in the face of these announcements and especially not to blindly trust certain assets for the simple reason that they are supported by public figures. Especially in the cryptocurrency market which is very volatile, technologically complex and still poorly regulated at present.
It should not be forgotten that some of these celebrities benefit, upstream, from several advantages and/or remuneration in return for their contribution. And some ask themselves, most likely, few questions about the repercussions that these actions can have on their subscribers, admirers and investors. This is why it is very important to always do your own research, to invest only in projects that you understand and believe in. Although the cryptosphere is a prime example, this intellectual approach is valid for any investment in any field.