In 2020, the former National Football League player <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/this-week-on-crypto-twitter-nba-stars-buy-bitcoin-vitalik-welcomes-trolls-fwb-dao-expels-co-founder/" title="This Week On Crypto Twitter: NBA Stars Buy Bitcoin, Vitalik Welcomes Trolls, FWB DAO Expels Co-Founder”>Russell Okung expressed his wish to be paid in Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) and shocked many in the sports world, including his teammates, agents and financial advisors, by announcing that half of his salary would be paid in the main cryptocurrency.
Once considered a joke by skeptics and members of the media, Okung may have the last laugh, with his Bitcoin salary from the NFL hitting record highs in value over the past year.
What happened? The price of Bitcoin has climbed in value since Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, reaching several all-time highs throughout this week.
Many Bitcoin investors are celebrating, including Russell Okung, who made headlines in the sports and cryptocurrency worlds when he became the first athlete from the four major North American sports leagues to announce that part of his salary would be paid in Bitcoin.
“Normal is a trap. I sold all our bonds because I believed in Bitcoin. My financial advisors have been questioning me recently tweeted Russell Okung on his decision to take a salary in Bitcoin.
Okung also tweeted that the NFL teaches players how not to go broke, but doesn’t educate them about Bitcoin.
“It’s strange how the NFL spent millions teaching us how not to go broke, but the billionaire owners never shared how to build wealth. All I did was buy Bitcoin, and now we’re going to make history. ”
May 14, 2019, Okung a sharing a series of videos as part of a series called “Pay Me in Bitcoin,” named after his tweet on May 14, 2019. In the first video, Okung recalls a friend telling him all sorts of things about Bitcoin, mostly things that sounded like conspiracy theories about the US dollar and the Federal Reserve. Okung said it took him a while to figure it out, and once convinced, he decided to approach his landlord and ask to be paid in Bitcoin.
In 2019, Okung said he wanted to be paid in Bitcoin and cited the inequality and corruption of the fiat monetary system.
