Russell Okung’s salary in Bitcoin was a winning bet

Russell Okung has chosen to have half of his salary paid in Bitcoin, and his choice has proved to be a good one, given the rise in the price of Bitcoin.

In fact, the NFL athlete was the first athlete in the world to announce in late December that half of his salary would be paid in Bitcoin. That was December 30th, 2020, and Bitcoin was worth about $27,000. Today that value has practically doubled, so it’s safe to imagine that half of Russell Okung’s salary paid in BTC is now worth more too.

Joe Pompliano, journalist and brother of Anthony Pompliano did the math: 

Russell Okung announced in December he was converting half of his $13M salary into Bitcoin.

Bitcoin was $27,000.

Now, with the price at $61,000, @RussellOkung turned his $13M annual salary into over $21M.

This increase makes Okung one of the 30 highest-paid NFL players today. pic.twitter.com/xXX970Ng8H

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) March 13, 2021

In practice, Russell Okung was supposed to receive a $13 million annual salary, but with the price of Bitcoin rising to $61,000, his compensation has potentially grown to $21 million. 

This makes Russell Okung one of the 30 highest-paid NFL players. 

For Anthony Pompliano, this choice will make him one of the smartest investors in professional sports. 

Meanwhile, another user points out that being paid every fortnight, Russell Okung is simply exposed to the volatility of Bitcoin’s price. Joe Pompliano’s reasoning would be correct if Russell Okung had been paid in full and not in tranches. But the concept remains the same: that half of a salary paid in Bitcoin over time has grown in value. 

Russell Okung and Bitcoin

Russell Okung seems quite convinced of his choice to be paid in Bitcoin. Reading his tweets, his support for BTC is evident, as well as a desire to retaliate against those who have blamed him for the unusual way in which he has chosen to be paid. For example, on March 13th, he tweeted:

“There is a Bitcoin price to ignorance. 60k and counting”.

In another later tweet, he declared that Bitcoin will restructure the world’s financial system to make it sustainable. And again on the same day he announced:

“Fractions of Bitcoin will be all that’s left”.

In short, Russell Okung believes strongly in Bitcoin, which justifies his choice to receive his salary in BTC.