Carolina Panthers’ Russell Okung has become the first NFL player to be paid partly in Bitcoin. The football star has agreed to receive half of his $13 million salaries in bitcoin through Bitcoin startup Zap. Technically, Okung is still being paid in fiat, although, the salary checks are now sent via direct deposit to Zap, a startup that converts fiat paychecks into Bitcoin. The NFL player’s yearly salary is now being split 50-50 between Bitcoin and fiat. Russell Okung Became the First Player to Be Paid in Bitcoin Back in May 2019, Okung tweeted that he wanted to be paid in Bitcoin. As of December 2020, his wish becomes a reality being the first player from any major U.S. sports league to be paid in Bitcoin. Paid in Bitcoin. https://t.co/Ey6oOcmLjA — russ (@RussellOkung) December 29, 2020 Zap founder Jack Mallers, who is also a friend of Okung, told CoinDesk that other pro athletes including members of both the Yankees and Brooklyn Nets have also joined the program. He also revealed that the NFL and NFL Players Association had to be involved to get approval for the split payment for Okung. Unbelievably proud and humbled to have helped @RussellOkung achieve his goal of getting paid in #Bitcoin with @ln_strike. Russel is a leader. Getting #Bitcoin in exchange for your labor is much more than meets the eye. He is setting that example on a big stage. https://t.co/7UEcFnpLHG — Jack Mallers (@JackMallers) December 29, 2020 Zap’s Strike product enables traditional paychecks to be converted into BTC. To put it simply, Strike will receive the direct deposit from Carolina Panthers, and then swap the dollars for Bitcoin. Those Bitcoin will then be sent to a cold storage wallet held by Okung. Okung Has Been Long-Time Bitcoin Advocate Okung has been a long-time Bitcoin proponent and also encourages other professional athletes to embrace it as a way to give them economic power. The athlete revealed in various interviews that he has long been frustrated with the lack of economic power of professional athletes particularly Black athletes. Okung believes that Bitcoin is a way of regaining one’s financial independence Last year, in an opinion piece on CoinDesk, Okung expressed his views on the digital currency, saying: “Bitcoin is like digital gold. No one entity owns it or controls it. It is a scarce asset, which means there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins in existence. It has a proven 11-year track record that is unmatched by any Silicon Valley unicorn.”
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