AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
- Sean Culkin plans to convert his entire salary into bitcoin, making him the first NFL player to do so.
- If he makes the roster, he will convert his $920,000 salary using Strike by Zap.
- In 2020, Russell Okung was the first NFL player to be paid in bitcoin, though only partially.
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Kansas City Chiefs player Sean Culkin plans to convert his entire salary into bitcoin – the first NFL player to do so.
If he makes the roster, the 27-year-old will convert his $920,000 salary, which will be paid in weekly installments, using Strike by Zap, an app that allows users to make bitcoin transactions using a bank account or debit card, according to The Block.
"I fully believe bitcoin is the future of finance and I wanted to prove that I have real skin in the game — not just trying to make a quick buck. I will be converting my entire 2021 NFL salary to #Bitcoin," Culkin announced on Twitter.
Bitcoin on Tuesday rebounded back above $55,000 from two-month lows. It hit an all-time record above $64,000 earlier in April. The cryptocurrency has surged 600% over the last year amid major institutional interest as it slowly paves its way into mainstream adoption.
Culkin's photo on Twitter is an image of himself with laser eyes, a social media trend among bitcoin enthusiasts. Prominent bitcoin evangelists such as MicroStrategy founder and CEO Michael Saylor and Gemini founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have followed the trend on Twitter.
The University of Missouri finance alum is aiming to become the primary backup to six-time Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce.
"To be honest, I don't really view it as an extremely high-risk play," Culkin told the Kansas City Star, referring to his bitcoin investment.
He continued: "You see an asset that grew to a trillion-dollar market cap in 12 years, which I don't think has been done in any other asset, the fact that it's had three, four, five corrections of 50-plus percent here, we are (near) all-time highs. When I started to break away from viewing volatility as risk, it didn't seem very risky to me."
In 2020, Russell Okung was the first NFL player to be paid in bitcoin. The former Carolina Panthers offensive tackle converted half of his $13 million salary into the cryptocurrency via mobile payment firm Strike, CNBC reported.
"Money is more than currency; it's power," Okung said in a statement. "The way money is handled from creation to dissemination is part of that power. Getting paid in bitcoin is the first step of opting out of the corrupt, manipulated economy we all inhabit."
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