Former NFL player’s Bitcoin option turns $6.5M salary into $21M payout

In the year Former Carolina Panthers offensive tackle Russell Okung made headlines for negotiating to pay half of his $13 million NFL contract in Bitcoin through the 2020 season.

Today, that move is compounded, with Okung's BTC worth now estimated at $21 million, thanks to the recent rise in asset prices.

21 million dollars payment

Although he wasn't paid in cryptocurrency, the Panthers transferred $6.5 million of his salary through Strike, a financial service from Zap that arranged to buy bitcoins with the money. This move makes Okung one of the first top professional athletes to receive a large share of his earnings in Bitcoin.

The digital asset was trading at around $27,000 at the time of the investment. With his $6.5 million, Okung earned roughly 240 BTC, a move seen as a major financial risk as the cryptocurrency was still in its infancy and known for volatile price swings.

In the year By the end of 2022, the cryptocurrency experienced one of its worst falls ever, dropping to $17,000. That means the 36-year-old's investment has temporarily lost most of its value, down to $4.08 million. However, Okung chose to hold his ground.

In the year After the US presidential election in November 2024, the price of BTC increased dramatically, reaching an all-time high of over $83,000. As of this week, Bitcoin is around $88,000, pushing Okung's original 240 BTC worth to about $21.36 million.

This increase brings the total value of the Panthers' contract to about $27.8 million, meaning Okung's decision to invest half of his salary in bitcoin adds up to an additional $14.8 million in value.

In the year The former offensive tackle, who retired from professional football in 2023, recently took to social media to share his victory, saying, “The results silence all arguments.”

Interestingly, the former player who currently fronts an initiative called Bitball, which supports athletes who pay in BTC, recently indicated that he will not take the windfall money. “How long do I hold Bitcoin? OK, how long do I plan to breathe?” Okung said in a Nov. 14 post on X.

How long do I hold bitcoins? OK, how often do I plan to breathe?

— OKUNG (@RussellOkung) November 13, 2024

Trump won the election

The recent Bitcoin price rally came after Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election. The rally attracted major inflows into digital assets, with the OG cryptocurrency alone pulling in $1.8 billion, according to CoinShares' Digital Asset Fund Flows weekly report.

The rally extended beyond Bitcoin, with Ethereum gaining $157 million in revenue and significant movement among altcoins such as Solana, Uniswap, XRP and Tron.

Overall, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization hit a record high of $3.12 trillion in early Asian trading on Tuesday, November 12. This surpasses the previous record of $3.08 trillion set three years ago in November 2021.