Carolina Panthers’ Russell Okung Turns into First NFL Participant Paid In Bitcoin

As digital dollars in the form of cryptocurrency become increasingly popular, a soccer player is the first NFL player to be partially paid with Bitcoin, according to Coin Desk.

In 2019, Carolina Panthers offensive lineman Russell Okun tweeted that he wanted to be paid in Bitcoin.

Pay me in Bitcoin.

– russ (@RussellOkung) May 14, 2019

As of December 2020, his application was granted.

Paid in bitcoin. https://t.co/Ey6oOcmLjA

– russ (@RussellOkung) December 29, 2020

CoinDesk reports that Okun’s annual salary of $ 13 million will be split 50% between Bitcoin yy way of Zap, a bitcoin startup founded by Jack Mallers, and Fiat.

“It’s a big thing that we’ve found a way to enable every individual to have one [percentage] of their work in Bitcoin, ”Mallers said.

Mallers also said other professional athletes, including some members of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team and the New York Yankees of baseball, have already started being accepted into the program. Mallers announced that it had to involve the NFL and the NFL Players Association in order to get approval for the split payment for okung.

Incredibly proud and humble to have helped @RussellOkung achieve their goal of getting paid in #Bitcoin using @ln_strike.

Russel is a leader. Getting #Bitcoin in return for your work is a lot more than you think.

He puts this example on a big stage. https://t.co/7UEcFnpLHG

– Jack Mallers (@JackMallers) December 29, 2020

Carolina Panthers player Okung becomes the first player in league history to disclose part of his annual paycheck in digital currency, according to a press release from Strike.

Last year, Okung made a brief statement about Bitcoin in a statement on CoinDesk.

“Bitcoin is like digital gold. Nobody owns or controls it. It’s a scarce commodity, which means there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins. It has a proven 11-year track record that no unicorn from Silicon Valley can match. Bitcoin is undermining the status quo of intermediaries: no more banks, no more money managers, no more governments telling you what to do with your money and what not to do. For me, this means sending money to a relative in Nigeria without anyone else asking for consent. Imagine an economy where you don’t have to share all of your personal information before making a purchase. Imagine a retirement plan that is not built on a foundation that is “too big to fail”.

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