Super Bowl QR code: Crypto company just paid $7m for ad then their site crashed

The battle for the most talked-about Super Bowl commercial took place on Sunday night, and it seems as though one cryptocurrency ad might have won.

Sunday's game had many people reaching for their phones to scan a mystery QR code that suddenly appeared on their screens.

The ad - which was revealed to have been run by Coinbase - featured a colorful QR code that floated from one edge to another, reminiscent of the nostalgic bouncing DVD logo.

When scanned, the image led viewers to a link where they could sign up for the cryptocurrency exchange and redeem $15 worth of free bitcoin.

"ICYMI 👀Now that we have your attention we'd like to announce that we're giving away $15 in BTC to anyone who joins Coinbase by 2/15. Click below for more info and RT to tell your friends!" the company wrote on their Twitter page.

"At Coinbase we have a goal of introducing a billion people to the cryptoeconomy,” Coinbase CMO Kate Rouch said in a statement to Adweek. “Crypto is about access for everyone, not old models of winner takes all, stoking fear of ‘FOMO.'”

The result? Well, the ad ended up crashing the site with so many people having scanned the QR code.

On Twitter, Sopitas estimated how much the total cost was to run this commercial, and concluded that it was about $7 million.

They wrote: "This is the commercial EVERYONE is talking about! Coinbase spent $7 million USD to advertise this QR code for 30 seconds in the transmission of #SuperBowl as if it were a DVD Within seconds, their servers were saturated and down geniuses!"

The giveaway will be able for everyone to participate in for 48 hours starting at the time of airing. New and existing Coinbase customers are also able to enter.