Bitcoin Price Drop Stings for Athletes Taking Salaries in Cryptocurrency

NFL players like Odell Beckham Jr. and Aaron Rodgers took the bold step of taking parts of their salaries in Bitcoin, which has seen a steep decline.

Football, like life, is all about timing. Without an ill-timed meltdown on a punt, maybe Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are still alive in the hunt for the Super Bowl. As it is, Rodgers finds himself having to think about next season. The opposite is true for Odell Beckham Jr.'s Rams, who appeared dead in the water before a deep pass from Matthew Stafford to Cooper Kupp sent Los Angeles home for the NFC title game.

Just as timing played a key role in Rodgers's and Beckham's seasons, so too does it greatly impact their salaries.

The two stars made headlines earlier this year when they revealed they were taking at least part of their 2021 salaries in the form of Bitcoin. Beckham, who signed a one-year deal with a base salary of $750,000 and bonuses that could bump it up to $4.25 million, said he was taking his entire salary in Bitcoin via Cash App. Rodgers revealed in November he was taking "part of" his NFL salary in the popular cryptocurrency.

That bold strategy has, at least at the moment, not paid off the way they likely had hoped it would. The price of Bitcoin spiked in early November to over $67,000. At the time of writing, it now sits under $37,000, representing around a 44% dip in less than three months.

Tying your salary to a volatile investment like cryptocurrency was always going to be risky, and the two stars have banked quite a bit of money during their respective NFL careers (Beckham is also due a sizable bonus for the Rams making it to the NFC championship game, and could get even more if the team gets to the Super Bowl).

Still, if the pair is destined to head "to the moon," as Rodgers proclaimed in his announcement, they'll have to hold on a little longer and hope that this prolonged dip gives way to a steep spike.

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