AP Photo/Matt Ludtke
- Athletes and corporations are looking to capitalize on the crypto wave by giving it away.
- The Dallas Mavericks and Burger King said they would give out crypto to fans and customers.
- Aaron Rodgers announced he'd take part of his salary in bitcoin, and plans to give some out to fans.
Big-name generosity is helping crypto push further into the mainstream.
Cryptocurrency continues to gain popularity among retail traders, companies, and even whole countries. Giving crypto away for free has been a valuable marketing tactic for bringing digital assets to a wider user base.
Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks announced last week it would dole out $100 in bitcoin to people who downloaded the Voyager Digital app. The trading platform has over 2 million verified users, and allows trading access to over 60 currencies. The Texas NBA team owned by the long-time crypto-bull recently entered a five-year partnership with Voyager.
In a similar move, Burger King partnered with Robinhood to give away $2.6 million of crypto for the fast-food chain's US loyalty club members. In the announcement, Burger King said it is prepared to distribute a total of 20 bitcoin, 200 ether, and 2 million dogecoin.
Before November 21, customers can enter to win by placing an order of $5 or more through the Burger King app, according to its website. The promotion follows Robinhood's third-quarter earnings that reported revenue from crypto trading fell 78%.
Individuals are also getting in on the crypto action. NFL superstar Aaron Rodgers said he would be giving away $1 million in bitcoin to fans. The Green Bay Packers quarterback is partnering with Cash App to "make Bitcoin more accessible" to fans.
In the same announcement (he was wearing a John Wick costume in a video posted to Twitter), he said he would take a portion of his NFL salary in bitcoin.
"Bitcoin to the moon," Rodgers said in the video.