Following widespread crashes of various cryptocurrencies, critics on Twitter are taking the opportunity to troll actor Matt Damon for being one of the many celebrities in recent years to do an advertisement for the blockchain-centered technology.
While Damon isn’t the only celebrity shilling crypto, many people are not-so-fondly remembering his particularly cringey-in-retrospect ad that premiered last year for Crypto.com, called Fortune Favours the Brave. The one-minute ad, which had an impressively high production value, had quite the call to action for viewers. It premiered on Oct. 28, playing on everything from TV screens to movie theaters.
The website enables users to buy various kinds of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others. However, there’s been some bad publicity surrounding the digital form of currency lately, as the cryptocurrency market, overall, saw a loss of more than $200 billion as of Thursday, CNBC reports.
People on social media were quick to point out how seemingly poorly the ad has aged, with its comparison of investing in crypto as analogous to inventing aircraft.
Another Twitter user fondly recalled how seemingly aggressive the ad was when all you wanted to do was escape to a movie for a couple of hours.
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier even went so far as to characterize crypto-backed non-fungible tokens as “the latest failed trend,” along with the buzzy “metaverse” companies keep blathering on about.
Professor and author Dr. Steven W. Thrasher was also vocal on social media about his criticism of both Damon and Larry David, the latter of whom also starred in a Super Bowl ad for crypto. In his opinion, the actors may have “conned” poor and desperate people out of their money.
Another writer, Jon Schwarz, pointed out just how much money someone would’ve lost if they invested at the time the ad first dropped, compared to today. Assuming the calculation is correct, that would leave a person with about half the money they started out with
Investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein also found jarring the juxtaposition of celebrities like Damon hawking crypto, despite undoubtedly experiencing a massive wealth spike during the pandemic.
On the other hand, not everyone was so on board to lay the blame solely on Damon. After all, the actor once starred in a film about buying a Zoo, so maybe taking financial advice from him was never a guarantee.
“Maybe do a little research and don’t listen to Matt Damon telling you to invest in crypto,” one Twitter user wrote.
Another celebrity who is seemingly on the opposite end of this debacle is Gotham star Ben McKenzie, who has been a very vocal critic of cryptocurrencies. He has been sounding the alarm bell on the risks digital currencies present for quite some time now.
“I kept telling you to listen to Ben McKenzie and not Matt Damon,” one Twitter user wrote.
McKenzie himself has even commented on the crash, saying, “This is why I’m angry.”
Crypto investors’ palms began sweating Wednesday when a so-called stablecoin, Terra, dropped in value by more than 99 percent, Independent reports. The crash pushed another so-called stablecoin, Tether, to drop in value to as low as just 95 cents. In addition, crypto’s biggest currency, Bitcoin, hit its lowest point since July 2021 and may be on the cusp of dropping off even further, some analysts say. Ethereum, the second-biggest digital currency, dramatically dropped in value, as well.