Coinbase Karaoke Ad Divides Viewers During Super Bowl

The ad attracted divided reactions online, drawing both boos and praise for its simplicity and memorability. While the ad reignited debate around the exchange during a volatile period for crypto markets, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest moved in the opposite direction financially by continuing to cut its Coinbase position by selling more than $22 million in shares across multiple ETFs. 

Coinbase Returns to Super Bowl

Four years after its now-iconic bouncing QR code commercial, Coinbase made its return to the Super Bowl with a very different creative gamble — a karaoke-style advertisement inspired by the Backstreet Boys’ 1997 hit “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).” Instead of flashy visuals or celebrity cameos, the one-minute television spot relied almost entirely on animated text flashing the song’s lyrics across the screen, inviting viewers into a shared, almost absurdly simple moment during the most-watched sporting event in the United States.

According to Coinbase’s marketing leadership, the intent behind the ad was less about technical crypto messaging and more about cultural connection. Marketing chief Catherine Ferdon said the campaign was designed to bring people together through a collective experience, to show how much broader and more mainstream the crypto community has become since Coinbase’s last Super Bowl appearance in 2022. 

That earlier commercial, which was color-changing QR code bouncing like a DVD screensaver, became an instant viral sensation,  and it drove viewers to a promotion offering $15 in Bitcoin for new sign-ups. The response was so overwhelming that Coinbase’s website reportedly crashed after receiving roughly 20 million hits in a single minute.

This year’s ad didn’t crash servers, but it certainly ignited conversation. Online reactions were very divided, with some people criticizing the spot as poorly timed given the ongoing market volatility and crypto’s entanglement with US politics. Several users on X described rooms erupting in boos or groans once it became clear the commercial was for Coinbase.

At the same time, others argued that the backlash itself proved the ad’s effectiveness. Coinbase leaned into that interpretation by responding bluntly on X that if people were talking about it, the ad had done its job. 

Some viewers praised the spot’s simplicity, as it cut through the usual Super Bowl advertising noise. Ethereum Foundation engineer Chase Wright said that many people at his party were singing along and laughing once they realized it was a Coinbase ad, while other users described it as “low-key genius” because of how memorable it was.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also defended the creative choice by pointing out that most Super Bowl commercials are only half-watched in loud, crowded, and often alcohol-fueled environments. In his view, standing out requires doing something unexpected, even if it risks polarizing audiences. 

ARK Sells Coinbase Buys Bullish

Despite the talk surrounding Coinbase’s ad, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest continued reshaping its crypto exposure on Friday by selling a sizable block of Coinbase Global shares while increasing its stake in digital asset platform Bullish. 

According to ARK’s daily trade disclosures, the firm offloaded a total of 134,472 Coinbase shares worth roughly $22.1 million across three of its flagship exchange-traded funds. The largest sale came from the ARK Innovation ETF, which trimmed 92,737 shares, followed by 32,790 shares sold from the Next Generation Internet ETF and 8,945 shares from the Fintech Innovation ETF. The transactions are a continuation of ARK’s recent pullback from Coinbase after briefly adding to the position earlier in the week.

The Friday sales followed a $17.4 million Coinbase reduction on Thursday, when ARK sold 119,236 shares in what was its first Coinbase sale of 2026 and the first such move since August of 2025. 

The reversal suggests that there is growing caution around the exchange despite a strong single-day rally in the stock. Coinbase shares jumped roughly 13% during Friday’s session to close near $165, though the stock is still down about 27% year-to-date.

Coinbase YTD share price (Source: Coinbase)

At the same time, ARK moved in the opposite direction with Bullish by increasing its exposure across the same trio of funds. The firm purchased a combined 393,057 Bullish shares worth approximately $10.7 million, led by a 278,619-share addition to ARKK. Bullish shares rose around 10% on the day to finish near $27, but the stock is still down roughly 27% for the year after a sharp swing to a net loss of $563.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Beyond crypto, ARK also made selective adjustments across its technology portfolio. The firm added positions in Alphabet, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, and Tempus AI, while trimming stakes in several high-growth names including Roku, The Trade Desk, and PagerDuty.