When the crypto industry had a bullish trend in 2021, many sports stars and teams, with open arms, accepted many crypto deals, including FTX. Most of the deals at that time were advertisements, especially during the Super Bowl and other major events.
The crypto market is going through one of the worst times, with crypto exchanges like FTX scrambling to get back at their feet.
Many sports celebrities and teams were either ambassadors of the company or invested heavily in FTX. In recent weeks, FTX has been visibly struggling, and the owner Sam Bankman-Fried says the company is headed for bankruptcy.
After weeks of beef with rival crypto exchange Binance, FTX paused customer withdrawals earlier this week. According to information provided by the company's CEO, the crypto exchange was hit with about $5 billion worth of withdrawal requests on Sunday.
FTX on Wednesday even offered itself to its rival company, Binance, which had announced its intent to buy the struggling company. The deal didn't go through, with Binance CEO saying that the FTX deal had issues beyond their control.
In a long thread on Twitter, Sam Bankman-Fried said he was sorry for how his company handled matters and the lack of transparency in their dealings.
In an immediate response to the issues that had occurred during the week, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, said that the public should always be educated before they make investments.
He pointed out that celebrity involvement in a cryptocurrency or crypto enterprise should not be the guarantee of its credibility.
"There are celebrity CEOs in this space as well as celebrity crypto entrepreneurs. The public can fall prey to their promotions, marketing, and the like," Gary Gensler said on CNBC.
Tom Brady's Investment in FTX
In the latest FTX news, Tom Brady is the most affected by the FTX crisis. When he was still married to his former wife, Ms. Bündchen, both had joined the FTX $20 million ad campaign.
Those with good knowledge of the matter said Tom Brady also took equity stakes with the now struggling crypto exchange.
In an advertisement campaign, both had filmed a commercial telling the public that they had joined the crypto exchange and invited them to get involved.
Stephen Curry and Shaquille O'Neal
Current and retired NBA stars Stephen Curry and Shaquille O'Neal were also involved heavily as the brand ambassadors of FTX before, and now it seems their investment is at risk.
When Curry signed the FTX deal, he had a commercial where he said that he didn't need a professional to show him how to buy and sell crypto and that he had FTX.
Mr. Shaquille O'Neal is also a brand ambassador for the crypto exchange and appeared in a commercial video in June this year. In a video posted on the official FTX Twitter account, Mr. Shaq said, "I'm excited to be partnering with FTX to help make crypto accessible for everyone. I'm all in. Are you?"
Other stars involved and invested in the FTX company before their struggle started are David Ortiz, Naomi Osaka, and Kevin O'Leary. Despite losing their money, all these celebrities will stop being this company's ambassadors once it fails to revive.