When a Celebrity's Crypto Commercial Became an Unintentional Prophecy: The Larry David Story

During the 2022 Super Bowl, comedian Larry David appeared in a now-infamous advertisement for FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange. In the 30-second spot, David played a cynical character dismissing major historical innovations—the wheel, the fork, the toilet, coffee—before similarly rejecting FTX as a safe entry point into digital assets. The commercial’s punchline read: “DON’T BE LIKE LARRY.” Few realized at the time that David’s on-screen skepticism would prove prophetic. Months later, FTX spectacularly imploded, and in November 2023, Bankman-Fried was convicted of defrauding customers of billions of dollars.

How the Advertisement Was Supposed to Work

The marketing strategy behind the crypto commercial was straightforward: leverage David’s credibility as a satirist to position himself as the voice of doubt, making his eventual “acceptance” of FTX seem like a reasonable conclusion. By adopting the persona of someone dismissing technological progress throughout history, the advertisement aimed to suggest that rejecting crypto was itself outdated thinking.

David later explained his reasoning for participating. He consulted with knowledgeable associates about whether the project was legitimate. “They said, ‘Yeah, this is totally on the up and up,’” David recalled in a recent interview with the Associated Press. “So, like an idiot, I did it”—a characteristically self-deprecating assessment that captured the widespread sense of betrayal many felt after the FTX collapse.

The Unraveling: From Top to Bottom

The cryptocurrency exchange’s downfall began in November 2022, when investigative reporting by CoinDesk exposed serious financial irregularities. This triggering event cascaded into a crisis: FTX users rushed to withdraw their assets, only to discover the platform couldn’t process transactions. Nine days after the initial reporting, the company filed for bankruptcy, freezing customer funds in place.

The situation was grimly ironic. The very exchange that had promised a “safe and easy way to get into crypto” now held billions in customer assets hostage. Bankman-Fried’s conviction in late 2023 confirmed what many suspected: this wasn’t mismanagement but deliberate embezzlement on a staggering scale.

Personal Consequences and Broader Industry Implications

For David personally, the financial toll was significant. “Part of my salary was in crypto, so I lost a lot of money,” he admitted to the Associated Press. His experience mirrored that of countless FTX customers—ordinary people and public figures alike who believed in the platform’s legitimacy.

The fallout extended beyond individual investors. In related developments, Blockfills, a crypto lending firm, experienced its own crisis when some clients were allegedly encouraged to withdraw assets before the platform froze deposits and withdrawals in mid-February 2022. The Chicago-based firm, which had managed over $60 billion in trading volume, found itself caught in a broader market downturn and began seeking potential buyers.

The Unexpected Silver Lining

There is one piece of positive news: the FTX bankruptcy estate announced that it expects to fully repay affected customers. The timeline and full details remain uncertain, but this development offers some hope to those who, like David, suffered significant losses tied to the exchange.

Conclusion: When Satire Meets Reality

Larry David’s cryptocurrency commercial has taken on new meaning in retrospect. What was meant as a humorous advertisement became an inadvertent commentary on the risks of unchecked optimism in the digital asset space. The comedian’s on-screen skepticism—originally framed as outdated thinking—turned out to be exactly the perspective that mattered. His joke about dismissing FTX, which was meant to make audiences laugh at his supposed closed-mindedness, ultimately became vindicated by events. The campaign’s ironic message, “DON’T BE LIKE LARRY,” echoes differently now: in the context of the crypto commercial’s aftermath, perhaps following David’s fictional skepticism would have been the wiser choice after all.