Running back for the New York Giants, Saquon Barkley, announced he will convert all the money he makes through endorsements to Bitcoin.
While the news of a player converting his endorsement checks over to Bitcoin might not be all that newsworthy, when a player like Barkley does it, it’s a different story. The reason behind that is Barkley is a superstar player with a ton of endorsement deals. While some mid-tier guys are making hundreds of thousands off local endorsements, Barkley banks “more than $10 million annually,” off of his deals with companies like Nike, Toyota, and Pepsi. So, this is a significant investment from the young superstar.
In an interview with Anthony Pompliano on “The Best Business Show,” Barkley said that “We’re seeing inflation, and we’re learning you can’t save wealth. That’s why I am going to be taking my marketing money in bitcoin.” Barkley goes on to say that his superstar contemporaries like LeBron James and Tom Brady have gone the extra mile to create generational wealth for their families. Barkley believes that his salary and endorsements alone aren’t enough to set his bloodline up for generations to come.
As a team, the New York Giants have already been collaborating with crypto companies and are sponsored by Grayscale Investments. Barkley plans to use the Strike app to convert his checks into BTC and is friends with the CEO, Jack Mallers.
More athletes want to be paid in crypto
While Barkley technically is not being paid his salary in crypto, just his endorsement money, he becomes the latest in a long line of athletes going toward digital currency. While many players have found it difficult to secure payments in cryptos, Barkley’s deal, and ones similar to it, can circumvent the CBAs of each league to pay the players in the way they want.
For example, rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence requested that his entire signing bonus be paid to him in bitcoin. Lawrence’s signing bonus was somewhere in the neighborhood of $23 million as the number one pick in last year’s draft.
By far the most ambitious athlete when it comes to crypto is Spencer Dinwiddie of the NBA. Not only does he own part of an NFT collectible platform, but he also tried to tokenize his contract to be sold as a tradeable financial asset. According to Dinwiddie, the plan was to offer investors the chance to invest in the “first-ever security represented by a Professional Athlete Investment Token (PAInT).” The security would be tied to Dinwiddie’s contract.
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