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In May 2019, offensive NFL striker Russell Okung wrote on Twitter that he wanted his salary to be paid in bitcoin, a type of digital currency.
On Tuesday, he indicated that his wish had been granted.
“Paid in Bitcoin”, he wrote on Twitter.
Okung is receiving half of his $ 13 million base salary for the 2020 season in bitcoin, according to a press release from Strike, a company that helps users convert traditional money into cryptocurrency. The company says Okung, who is now with the Carolina Panthers, is the first player in the league’s history to receive part of his annual salary in the form of digital currency.
According to the press release, Okung pressured the Panthers and their former team, the Los Angeles Chargers, to pay it in bitcoin before finding a solution. The Panthers ended up paying the 32-year tackle in traditional currency, but then passed it through Strike, who converted it into bitcoin.
An 11-year-old veteran and twice honored in the Pro Bowl, Okung has long been an advocate of bitcoin, a type of digital currency invented more than a decade ago. The currency is exchanged using a type of public registration system called blockchain, which eliminates the need for intermediaries like banks.
In a 2019 opinion piece for Coindesk, a website that reports on digital currencies, Okung compared bitcoin to “digital gold”.
“No entity owns or controls,” he wrote. “… Bitcoin is undermining the status quo of intermediaries: there are no more banks, no money managers, no governments saying what you can and cannot do with your money.”
Selected in Oklahoma’s first round in 2010, Okung has earned $ 108 million in his NFL career to date, according to Spotrac. He should become a free agent this season.
Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or Twitter @Tom_Schad.