Cryptocurrencies have come a long way over the last decade. Bitcoin (BTC) has become a major investment asset, while crypto projects now don $1 billion market cap without flinching. The adoption of crypto is picking up steam. In this piece, BeInCrypto looks at the celebrities who are backing crypto growth and adoption.
The year is 2021, bitcoin has soared to over $50,000 and internet celebrity Logan Paul just made $3.5 million in one day selling a digital card of himself.
Tell that story to anyone five years ago and no one would have believed you. The exponential rise in popularity within the cryptocurrency space has been astounding. The popularity of digital assets has become a global phenomenon, with celebrities now openly endorsing and involved in the market.
BIC takes a look at some of the influential celebrities that have graced their presence within the industry and have become active participants.
Elon Musk
Perhaps the most influential figure in the world right now. As one of the richest men on the planet, the Tesla founder has been an active participant in the cryptocurrency space for years. However it’s with his verbal commentary that Elon Musk participates. Musk has been a huge dogecoin (DOGE) maximalist, in recent weeks. Perhaps so much so that he could even be directly linked to the recent surge in dogecoin, which saw it climb over 800% in a matter of days.
Musk has also been pleasantly open about the ability for bitcoin to benefit Fortune 500 companies as a hedge against an underperforming US fiat currency.
The Tesla founder has made mention that bitcoin is a better idea than holding fiat currency. Most recently, Tesla even purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. Something that Musk claims was not a direct action based on his opinion, but rather a company strategy to diversify.
Musk has also jokingly admitted that he will be launching a MarsCoin that will be used to fund dogecoin whales who are holding too many tokens.
Jack Dorsey
While Jack Dorsey may not be a real celebrity, the CEO of Twitter, and the founder and CEO of Square has been a real proponent for cryptocurrency adoption.
As someone with a lot of influence behind Twitter, where the cryptocurrency community is very active, Dorsey has verbally backed bitcoin.
Most recently, Dorsey created a Bitcoin development fund with rapper Jay-Z. While the celebrity rapper hasn’t had a huge foray in the cryptocurrency space, the assistance of Jack has allowed the pair to create the ₿trust fund which will focus on Bitcoin development in Africa and India. The fund between the two will see 500 BTC added to the fund, totaling roughly $25 million.
Dorsey’s Square has also recently purchased a further $170 million in bitcoin, following an initial purchase of over 4,000 BTC, in October 2020.
Dorsey, much like Musk, has played a vital role in getting their companies to back bitcoin, as well as supporting the crypto community.
Akon
Who can forget the “Lonely” rapper from the mid-2000s that dropped hits and collaborations almost as often as we look at the bitcoin price today.
Akon has had a fantastic music career, but the rapper has been working behind the scenes to create the first African cryptocurrency-powered city. The city is set to use Akoin, the native token created by Akon.
While the plans are ambitious, they have been in the works for several years already. Akon has since run a lighting Africa initiative through the use of solar powered energy in over 28 countries.
But now the rapper is set on building his 2,000 acre city in Senegal. The city is set to be completed by 2023 and will run on solar power and use Akoin as the method of payment for anything within the city.
The entire project looks set to be completed by 2030. Looks like everyone who held bitcoin for over 20 years will be joining Akon in Akon City to sing along to “Smack That.”
Source: AkonCity
Logal Paul
Ten years of living in the shadows like bitcoin, no one knew who Logan Paul was. However after a lengthy wrap of online success, the former YouTube sensation has now shifted gears to all avenues of business. One of those now includes cryptocurrencies.
Paul recently created a non-fungible token (NFT) of himself that was for sale at 1 ethereum (ETH) each. The sale saw over $3.5 million in sales in one day. The rise and popularity surrounding NFTs has seen a major uptick in 2021.
Other celebrities that have launched NFTs include the likes of billionaire and owner of the NBA team Dallas Maverick Mark Cuban who also launched his own NFT.
BEEPLE
On the topic of NFTs, the most popular NFT creator currently has to be the well known digital artist Beeple. Beeple aka Mike Winkelmann has risen to prominence within the crypto community, following his move into NFS less than six months ago. Beeple currently has an active following of 1.8 million followers on Instagram, where the artist posts a lot of his dystopian work.
The digital artist is now the first person to have an NFT being auctioned at British auction house Christies. The company will also accept payment in ethereum, which is another first.
Beeple currently holds the record for the most expensive NFT, which was sold for a whopping $6.6 million.
While the list of celebrities has become far too long to list everyone, the start of celebrities talking about crypto began with the 2017 ICO craze, which ultimately saw many of them being questioned or fined by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
However it appears celebrities are back in full force to back crypto for good. With the crypto industry seeing unprecedented growth in 2021, It’s possible that cryptocurrencies begin seeing a lot more adoption by celebrities.
Just ask Lindsay Lohan:
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