In 2021, NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. famously took his salary from the Los Angeles Rams in bitcoin, a move that some celebrated as forward thinking and others criticized as risky. Converting his original $750,000 salary through a deal with Cash App, Beckham was part of a wave of athletes experimenting with cryptocurrency as compensation. He converted his salary at bitcoin’s peak of $64,158 in 2021.
Then the crypto market cooled.
But it seems Beckham isn’t one to panic and he waited out the downslide, even though Beckham’s investment plummeted in value, sinking as low as $401,500 during the “crypto winter” of 2022, MarketWatch reported.
Now Bitcoin’s back on the upswing, fueled by market optimism and pro-crypto policies promised by President-elect Donald Trump. For now, Beckham’s gamble is finally paid off. As of November 13, Bitcoin is trading around $93,000, putting Beckham’s initial investment at approximately $1,052,000 — if he held onto his investment.
Who Stupid Now?
Beckham hasn’t confirmed whether he held onto all of his initial bitcoin or cashed out, but he did post on X on Nov. 13, “Soooo who said taking my Rams salary in bitcoin was dumb again?” He included a snapshot of what bitcoin was worth on that day — $92,017.7.
This shift arrives as bitcoin enjoys a 139% rise over the past 12 months, driven by Trump’s promises to support cryptocurrency through policies like a proposed “crypto capital” in the U.S., a national bitcoin reserve, and regulatory changes aimed at fostering a crypto-friendly environment, Yahoo reported.
Some predict bitcoin rising to $100,000 by the beginning of the year. Currently, 60% of Kalshi’s users are betting that Bitcoin will hit $100,000 by the end of 2024, while 45% predict it could reach that level in November, CNBC reported. Kalshi, a prediction market platform regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, allows users to place real-money bets on the outcomes of real-world events, including financial and economic predictions.
