Crypto exchange FTX leans into star power with $20 million ad spot featuring Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen

• Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen are the latest celebrities talking crypto in a new FTX ad spot.
• The ad is part of a $20 million campaign beginning during Thursday's NFL game and continuing through October.
• FTX has been on a marketing tear in this year.

Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen are the latest celebrities talking crypto in a new FTX ad spot as the crypto exchange looks to make inroads in the US, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The ad will feature in an upcoming $20 million campaign beginning during Thursday's NFL game and continuing through October. It's another investment in star power for the fast-rising crypto exchange, which days ago inked a brand ambassador deal with NBA titan Steph Curry.

Yet despite the big topline number and star power, the ad itself, called "FTX. You In?", mentions crypto just a few times. It instead mostly consists of Brady and Bündchen calling up friends to spread the word about FTX. The only cryptocurrency that earns an explicit mention is dogecoin, pronounced as "doggy coin" by a slightly confused office worker.

"We're the newcomers to the scene," FTX.US president Brett Harrison told the Journal, who said that the ad campaign's goal was to create brand awareness in a sometimes-intimidating market. Bringing on high-profile figures like Brady and Curry should indicate that FTX is a trustworthy company, he added.

FTX has been on a marketing tear. Earlier this year, it signed a $135 million deal for the naming rights on the Miami Heat's stadium, now called FTX Arena.

It is also set to become the official crypto exchange of the MLB, splashing its logo across official uniforms and broadcasts. And in August, FTX signed a seven-year deal with North America's professional League of Legends circuit, which is in the top three most popular sports broadcasts for the key 18-to-34-year-old US demographic.