Lakers won’t have to change arena name as Crypto.com shuts down some business

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Crypto.com Arena should keep its name for now. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Crypto.com will shut down some of its operations, but it won’t affect the Los Angeles Lakers arena name. Crypto.com announced on Friday that it would shut down its “institutional exchange” in the United States, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

The company’s institutional exchange service will be shut down within two weeks, according to blockworks.co. About 400 customers will be affected by the change. Crypto.com’s broader service, its app, will remain active and continue to serve customers. The app includes a much larger portion of Crypto.com’s customer base.

Crypto.com bought the naming rights to Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as Staples Center, from Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) in 2021. Crypto.com paid $700 million to have its name adorn the stadium of the Lakers for 20 years.

The Lakers aren’t the only team playing in the stadium. It also hosts the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA, the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL and the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.

Will Crypto.com continue to hold naming rights in Los Angeles?

Whether Crypto.com will retain naming rights for 20 years remains a question after FTX, another cryptocurrency exchange, filed for bankruptcy in November. FTX purchased the arena naming rights from the Miami Heat in 2021.

The Heat severed ties with the company after it filed for bankruptcy and were finally allowed to change the arena’s name in January. A few weeks later, the Heat entered into a new naming rights deal with Kaseya, a software company.

The bankruptcy of FTX led to the fall of the cryptocurrency stock. Although stock prices have risen since then, they are far from fully recovering.

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