Author: Zen, PANews
Recently retired NFL player Russell Okung shared an old report on X from sports media Bleacher Report (BR) about himself receiving salary payments in Bitcoin, commenting: 'Society wants to tame you, hoping you become predictable. But greatness requires wildness.'
This tweet quickly garnered millions of views, and as Bitcoin broke through the $90,000 mark, many began to realize how correct Okung's controversial decision was at the time.
In North American sports, there are many celebrities and athletes like Okung who are enthusiastic about Bitcoin. For example, a report by BR in 2019 stated that NFL quarterback Matt Barkley had requested to be paid in Bitcoin by the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals, but both requests were denied. Notably, Barkley played for these two teams from 2017 to 2018, at a time when Bitcoin was still far from being recognized by mainstream society. Now, investing in Bitcoin has become commonplace, and directly converting salaries into Bitcoin has already made precedents in the two major sports leagues, the NFL and NBA.
This article from PANews will review well-known NFL and NBA players who are actively involved in the cryptocurrency market, with information sourced from their public statements or overseas media reports. While they have reaped significant rewards in the cryptocurrency industry, they have also promoted the popularization of cryptocurrencies through their words and actions.
Spencer Dinwiddie
Although he has changed teams multiple times this year and his on-court contributions have diminished, Dallas Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie, known as a 'cryptocurrency pioneer' among NBA players, should have seen considerable returns from his off-court cryptocurrency investments. He was first introduced to Bitcoin in 2014 by a friend working in finance, but due to many 'horror stories' of failed investments in the NBA, the then 21-year-old rookie with an annual salary of only $1 million was hesitant to venture into it, opting instead for more traditional and stable real estate investments.
In December 2016, Dinwiddie signed a three-year, $2.9 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets, at which time Bitcoin was priced at around $775, and had already doubled by the end of the regular season. During that season, Dinwiddie finally established his value and secured his position on the Nets, while he was also determined not to miss out on Bitcoin's price growth. In the fall of 2017, as the new NBA season began, Dinwiddie started closely monitoring his investments. Before games, in the locker room, while most players were busy getting into 'game mode', he would open the cryptocurrency trading app Coinbase to observe and study market trends. As he began to deliver his career-best performances, Bitcoin's price skyrocketed, tripling by the end of that year to reach $15,000. Additionally, he also began researching some relatively obscure tokens at the time, such as Tron, from which he earned a 5x return when he exited.
By December 2018, after an almost All-Star performance, Dinwiddie received a three-year, $34.36 million contract extension from the Nets. The following year, Dinwiddie overcame NBA official resistance to convert his contract into an investment tool called Dream Fan Shares, through which he planned to sell 90 SD8 tokens or Professional Athlete Investment Tokens (PAInT), but ultimately only sold 10%, far short of the $13.5 million target. Additionally, Dinwiddie co-launched the creator social market Calaxy, accumulating at least $33.5 million in funding.
In October last year, during an interview with renowned sports journalist Michael Scotto, Dinwiddie mentioned that Calaxy's current valuation is in the nine figures, and if it reaches ten figures in the next cycle, he will completely 'enjoy retirement.' (Some Chinese sports media mistakenly interpreted this as Dinwiddie revealing he owns over a hundred million in cryptocurrency assets.) However, even if Dinwiddie did not receive his salary in Bitcoin as rumored, he never proactively disclosed having nine-figure cryptocurrency assets, but as a millionaire who bet on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies early, his returns over the years must be considerable.
Klay Thompson & Andre Iguodala
Left: Andre Iguodala, Right: Klay Thompson
Dinwiddie's current teammate, Klay Thompson, who just joined the Dallas Mavericks, is currently the biggest name publicly supporting receiving part of his salary in Bitcoin. This former 'Splash Brother' with Stephen Curry once stated in a tweet: 'I invest in Bitcoin because I believe it is the future of currency.'
In January 2022, after suffering from ACL and Achilles tendon injuries, Klay finally announced his return to the court after a two-and-a-half-year absence. Perhaps during his recovery and rehabilitation, Klay was recommended by teammate Andre Iguodala, and upon his return, both announced a partnership with Cash App to convert part of their salaries into Bitcoin, each donating $1 million worth of BTC to fans. Iguodala wrote in a tweet: 'I converted part of my salary into Bitcoin with Cash App! Bitcoin is the future, and Klay Thompson and I are both believers in Bitcoin.'
That season, Klay's contract income was about $40 million, while Iguodala's veteran minimum contract details were not disclosed but were estimated to be around $3 million. However, as a well-known tech investor in the NBA, Iguodala had already earned substantial returns through venture capital, so he felt confident converting all of his earnings that season into Bitcoin. According to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide, Iguodala received $2.647 million of his salary in Bitcoin. Klay, who was 'led into the door' by Iguodala, should also hold at least this magnitude of Bitcoin assets.
Cade Cunningham
Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham joined the NBA as the first overall pick in 2021. This mature, highly intelligent rookie seems to have a solid perspective on investment and finance as well. During the summer before the season started, he announced a multi-year exclusive partnership with BlockFi. As part of the partnership, BlockFi will provide Cunningham with a signing bonus, paid directly in Bitcoin to his BlockFi account. 'What interests me about cryptocurrencies is their ease of use, democracy, and consensus foundation, as well as their ability to evolve over time to meet the changing needs of financial consumers, including myself,' Cunningham stated in a press release.
When FTX collapsed, leading to BlockFi's bankruptcy, many recalled Cunningham's business partnership with the latter. According to Crain's Detroit Business, a source familiar with the partnership said that the amount of Bitcoin bonuses Cunningham received was very small compared to the cash endorsement fees he received from BlockFi, which were negligible. Since then, there has been no further news about Cunningham's cryptocurrency investments. In fact, compared to his five-year $224 million maximum contract signed with the Pistons, the potential 2 to 3 times Bitcoin earnings he might have gained are indeed insignificant.
Tyrese Haliburton
Earlier this year, at the annual NBA All-Star Weekend, Coinbase held an event called 'moonshot,' where Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton was interviewed by CoinDesk. He stated that he had heard about Bitcoin a few years ago while in college, and that Dinwiddie was the first in the NBA to comment on it. 'The first cryptocurrency I came into contact with was Ethereum because that was the blockchain I used for NFTs, so I invested heavily in Ethereum. I wanted to get into Bitcoin because it's the blue-chip stock of cryptocurrencies.'
Haliburton stated that due to his personal schedule, he does not do day trading, but his brother does it frequently. 'So I can imagine taking a large sum out of my contract and giving it to my brother to day trade while I focus on the market's decline. I can absolutely see that as a possibility for me.' Haliburton indeed might do so—last July, this All-Star guard signed a five-year contract worth up to $260 million with the Pacers.
Scottie Pippen
In July this year, Scottie Pippen entered the cryptocurrency space. The NBA legend, who helped Jordan establish the Bulls dynasty, first teased on social media before launching a fan token called Game 5 Ball ($BALL) on the Ethereum blockchain in August, which is tied to the ball used in Game 5 of the 1991 NBA Finals. Shortly after the token's issuance, on-chain detective ZachXBT found that the developer wallet that created the token contract almost immediately sold off tokens worth about $330,000, sparking strong backlash from the community. As of November 19, the circulating market cap of $BALL was approximately $5.6 million.
Related reading: Asking 'Ethereum or Solana?', NBA star Pippen, who issued NFTs, is set to return to the cryptocurrency field.
Notably, while Pippen faced criticism and ridicule for his series of actions regarding Game 5 Ball, he 'accidentally' almost predicted Bitcoin's surge. In September of this year, Pippen tweeted that Satoshi told him in a strange dream that Bitcoin's price would reach $84,650 on November 5. Ultimately, on November 5, Bitcoin's price was close to $70,000, and a week later, it indeed approached $85,000.
Russell Okung
At the end of 2020, Russell Okung, who joined the Carolina Panthers, announced that he would take half of his $13 million salary in Bitcoin. However, according to tech media The Verge, the Carolina Panthers confirmed to the media that all teams pay players in dollars. The article also stated that Okung's move might be aimed at promoting the Bitcoin Lightning Network payment company Zap, which allows anyone to receive their wages 'in Bitcoin' at any time.
Ultimately, Okung and Strike, under Zap, announced a partnership to enable part of his salary to be paid in Bitcoin. Six months later, when the price of Bitcoin surged to $60,000 and then quickly fell, he stated that even if the crypto market dropped, he would not sell his Bitcoin, and has since not publicly disclosed his investment strategy. Speculation suggests that if Okung still holds the 240 Bitcoins purchased with half of his 2020 salary, they would now be worth over $20.9 million.
Trevor Lawrence
In April 2021, newly drafted NFL first overall pick Trevor Lawrence signed a deal with FTX to promote the company's investment application Blockfolio. FTX stated that this was the first deal where 'the signing bonus was paid entirely in cryptocurrency'. According to USA TODAY, Lawrence's investment portfolio includes mainstream cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and he also invested in the blockchain Solana.
In June 2022, as the cryptocurrency market entered a bear market, rumors surfaced on social media that Lawrence had converted his entire $24 million signing bonus into cryptocurrency and lost $15 million. Lawrence later clarified on Twitter that these individuals confused the NFL first overall pick's $24 million signing bonus with FTX's signing bonus. According to Bloomberg, an application for bankruptcy by FTX's affiliate stated that Lawrence received a payment of $500,000 in September 2022. Other athletes who were sued for endorsing FTX include Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Shaquille O'Neal, Naomi Osaka, and Shohei Ohtani, but these wealthy top athletes do not seem interested in this emerging field, nor have they disclosed any cryptocurrency investments.
Saquon Barkley
'We see inflation, and we recognize that wealth cannot be preserved. That's why I want to use Bitcoin for my marketing funds.' In July 2021, while guesting on the YouTube show of Anthony Pompliano, founder of Pomp Investments, New York Giants star running back Saquon Barkley announced that he would partner with Strike to have all of his future endorsement contracts paid 100% in Bitcoin. Barkley has endorsement deals with well-known brands like Nike, Toyota, and Pepsi. Pompliano analyzed that Barkley's endorsement fees 'exceed $10 million annually.'
Aaron Rodgers
On November 21, 2021, quarterback Aaron Rodgers tweeted that he had partnered with Square's CashApp to convert an undisclosed portion of his 2021 salary into Bitcoin. Similar to the actions of Klay and Iguodala mentioned above, Rodgers also announced he would donate $1 million worth of Bitcoin. At the time, the 37-year-old player had signed a four-year, $134 million contract with the Green Bay Packers, earning an average of $33.5 million per season.
Odell Beckham Jr.
'Who said it was stupid for me to receive my Rams salary in Bitcoin?' On November 14, after Russell Okung celebrated the surge in Bitcoin, Odell Beckham Jr. publicly responded to past doubts on X.
On November 22, 2021, Odell Beckham Jr., a wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams, tweeted that he would partner with CashApp to receive his new full salary in Bitcoin. Beckham's contract with the Rams included a base salary of $750,000, a signing bonus of $500,000, and $3 million in incentives, and since he won his first Super Bowl with the team, Beckham ultimately earned this substantial bonus.
Sean Culkin
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Sean Culkin was the first NFL player to announce he would convert all of his salary into Bitcoin. In April 2021, ESPN revealed that Culkin was signed by the Chiefs in February under a reserve/future contract, planning to convert his entire salary of $920,000 into Bitcoin. Culkin stated: 'I want to do this because I believe Bitcoin will continue to rise in the long term,' adding, 'It is a store of value in the long run. The reason Bitcoin is so hard to grasp is its scarcity. If you look back in history, you'll find that over time it appreciates.'
However, one month after Culkin announced this plan, he was cut by the Chiefs. Since such contracts are usually non-guaranteed, he might not receive any remaining salary. He has not played for any team since then. However, from his laser-eyed avatar and the background image of him dressed in Bitcoin letters on his X platform, it is clear that Culkin is indeed one of the very few Bitcoin loyalists among athletes.
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