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One day after Russell Okung took a victory lap for getting a portion of his 2020 salary paid out in Bitcoin and turned $6.5 million into $20 million, Odell Beckham Jr. joined the cryptocurrency celebration.
Beckham laughed off critics who questioned him taking his 2021 salary from the Los Angeles Rams in Bitcoin payment as the cryptocurrency hit a record-high mark on exchanges.
The 2024 presidential election has led to a surge in the price of Bitcoin as President-elect Donald Trump promised to usher in a pro-crypto agenda, including the idea of establishing a federal Bitcoin reserve.
After being acquired by the Rams in November 2021, Beckham signed an adjusted contract and announced he would be taking the remainder of his salary in bitcoin.
Odell Beckham Jr @obj
It’s a NEW ERA & to kick that off I’m hyped to announce that I’m taking my new salary in bitcoin thanks to @CashApp. To ALL MY FANS out there, no matter where u r: THANK YOU! I’m giving back a total of $1M in BTC rn too. Drop your $cashtag w. #OBJBTC & follow @CashApp NOW pic.twitter.com/ds1IgZ1zup
Beckham’s Rams contract included a $750,000 base salary, $500,000 signing bonus and $3 million in incentives that he wound up earning all of because they won the Super Bowl.
While people like Okung and Beckham can celebrate their victory now, the stability of the crypto market is incredibly fragile. Terra lost $45 billion in market cap in a single week in 2022 before being approved for bankruptcy earlier this year.
FTX also collapsed in 2022 amid a massive fraud scandal involving co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried and his business partner Caroline Ellison.
