So we know now that FTX, the crypto exchange, may have been “the most trusted” but it was not the most trustworthy way to buy and sell crypto currencies. Here is an example of one of the TV commercials FTX ran featuring one of the most famous athletes, Tom Brady, and his supermodel then-wife, Gisele Bundchen, who were also, apparently, investors in FTX. 

The commercial is a joke on the word “trade,” which, after Brady pauses in his golf game to do a “trade,” is  misinterpreted by sportscasters and fans as a reference to Brady moving to another team—we see entire narratives of hope and excitement over the possibility of Brady joining a local team, and we see social media and mainstream media announcing his moving as “news” although it is only gossip. But in the end, we learn, Brady was only making a crypto trade on his mobile phone. 

Each shot is designed to convey something about his fans’ devotion, the urgency and confusion of media stories based on little more than gossip, and the fun of sports, which should, the commercial implies, carry over to crypto trading. While there may be some parallels between sports betting and crypto trading, what we now know is that crypto trading with entities like FTX has turned out to be a lot less fun than the usual sports bet because not only does FTX not pay off the winner, it has taken all the bets for itself.