Saquon Barkley Admits He’d Take Bitcoin Paycheck over NFL Salary if He Could Do It All over Again

Saquon Barkley has endorsed cryptocurrency on multiple counts after starting to receive his endorsement money through Bitcoin in 2021.

Saquon Barkley Admits He’d Take Bitcoin Paycheck over NFL Salary if He Could Do It All over Again

Saquon Barkley (Image via AP)

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Since its introduction in 2009, Bitcoin has become one of the leading monetary tenders worldwide, alongside various currencies. The NFL has not been silent on the growing trend of utilizing cryptocurrencies for paychecks either.

In 2020, Russell Okung famously converted half of his Carolina Panthers contract into crypto. Odell Beckham Jr. took a step further and signed a contract rooted in bitcoins altogether. The NFL has come a long way since, and among the ones driving the current crypto voice in the league is the Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.

The Super Bowl champion, in a Boardroom interview, admitted that he would prefer a Bitcoin paycheck over his salary if he could do it all over again. He offered measured advice to people interested in cryptocurrency.

He admitted that the crypto gave him financial freedom, which is super important to him. Nevertheless, Barkley did acknowledge that he has still not figured it all, and is learning about it still.

I think crypto creates financial freedom. The sense of ownership for me is just educating myself on money, educating myself on the way I can create financial freedom. It’s been super important to me. I’d be lying, saying that I’ve got it all figured out. You’ve just gotta learn, you gotta learn and have the right people surrounding you. It’s been a fun ride for me.

Saquon Barkley said

In the podcast, he recalled talking with Michael Saylor, the MicroStrategy co-founder and a prominent Bitcoin advocate. Saylor had advised Barkley to put all of the money in it, which the latter decided not to. The RB mentioned that he kind of regretted that he didn’t follow Saylor’s advice, considering that he has been having good profits off it.

The Eagles star man also attended the State of Crypto Summit by Coinbase last month, where he shared his insights into his journey with cryptocurrency as a panelist. His history with the form of currency can be traced back to a 2021 decision to accept endorsement payments in Bitcoin.

NFL’s Bitcoin pioneer Russell Okung touts Bitcoin as key to financial empowerment

A few days before the Boardroom podcast, Russell Okung, who was one of the first in the sport to use cryptocurrency, shared an anecdote on the financial prosperity of using them. Okung hyped the crypto while highlighting about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ TJ Watt’s mammoth contract extension.

TJ Watt
TJ Watt (Image via Bleacher Report)

The former player claimed that the difference between real-world currencies and Bitcoin is similar to TJ Watt and his brother JJ Watt’s contract differences. In just three years, the younger Watt is set to earn nearly as much as his brother did throughout his entire 12-year career. Okung noted that, similar to this, Bitcoin compresses the timeline and allows an individual to earn what they would over 40 years in 4 years.

He also claimed that the cryptocurrency is becoming highly scarce. As compared to normal currency, there’s a hard cap of 21 million coins written into the code of protocol of Bitcoin, which protects it from being devalued or inflated.

Furthermore, the mining reward or the new supply is halved every four years as more of it is mined. This means that the rate of new Bitcoin entering circulation slows down, and over time, it becomes harder to acquire. This feature also allows the digital tender to remain undiluted.

With Okung’s push and the openness of prominent figures like Saquon Barkley, the trend of digital tenders is expected to rise exponentially among the NFL athletes.

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