New analysis unveils how much elite athletes might have made – or lost – from taking their paycheques in crypto
Last year, Odell Beckham, Jr., the wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams, made headlines when he announced he would be taking his US$750,000-a-year salary in Bitcoin, joining several other players in the NFL who are also taking at least some of their pay in crypto.
That November 2021 decision has cost him. Bitcoin has since tumbled from its peak of around US$68,000 in November, and hasn’t recovered since (or yet).
Haters might be quick to take his as a cautionary tale proving that crypto salaries are not exactly the wave of the future. But is it really that simple? After all, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies are famously volatile, and have shown spectacular gains as well as breathtaking losses.
To find out, a new report from the Action Network examined how much the highest-paid NFL stars would have made – or lost – from investing in different cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin during the 2020-2021 and the 2021-2022 seasons.
By dollar cost averaging their weekly salaries for those periods, the analysis calculated how much money elite stars would have been able to accumulate at the time, as well as how much they’d have today if they chose to stay invested.
In the case of the top five most richly compensated American football players – Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Dak Prescott, Deshaun Watson, and Russel Wilson – a decision to take their weekly paycheque in Bitcoin would have worked out very well in 2020-2021:
|
Rank |
Player |
Total Invested |
Weekly |
Total Accumulated |
Total Now |
|
1 |
Patrick Mahomes |
$45,000,000 |
$863,013 |
$113,859,000 |
$158,859,000 |
|
2 |
Josh Allen |
$43,005,667 |
$824,766 |
$108,812,939 |
$151,818,606 |
|
3 |
Dak Prescott |
$40,000,000 |
$767,123 |
$101,208,000 |
$141,208,000 |
|
4 |
Deshaun Watson |
$39,000,000 |
$747,945 |
$98,677,800 |
$137,677,800 |
|
5 |
Russell Wilson |
$35,000,000 |
$671,232 |
$88,557,000 |
$123,557,000 |
But the following season, that same decision would have left them out of pocket:
|
Rank |
Player |
Total Invested |
Weekly |
Total Accumulated |
Total Now |
|
1 |
Patrick Mahomes |
$45,000,000 |
$863,013 |
($8,779,500) |
$36,220,500 |
|
2 |
Josh Allen |
$43,005,667 |
$824,766 |
($8,390,406) |
$34,615,261 |
|
3 |
Dak Prescott |
$40,000,000 |
$767,123 |
($7,804,000) |
$32,196,000 |
|
4 |
Deshaun Watson |
$39,000,000 |
$747,945 |
($7,608,900) |
$31,391,100 |
|
5 |
Russell Wilson |
$35,000,000 |
$671,232 |
($6,828,500) |
$28,171,50 |
“For Mahomes, Bitcoin investments between 2021 and 2022 could have taken his position away as the highest-paid player,” the report said. “If Mahomes invested his $45,000,000, he could’ve sacrificed nearly a fifth of his wage, seeing a decrease of over $8.7M.”
“For the top five highest paid NFL stars, losses would have all been north of $6.8M,” it added.
