NFL star Aaron Rodgers to be paid Bitcoin as part of salary

American Football star Aaron Rodgers is to be part-paid in crypto.

The three-time NFL MVP took to Twitter to say he’ll be receiving a portion of his $33.5m annual salary in Bitcoin.

A legendary figure in the sport, the Green Bay Packers’ quarter-back is aiming to spread his influence in the cryptocurrency industry.

As well as receiving Bitcoin, Rodgers is also giving $1m worth of it away, as he stated in his Twitter post.

Rodgers was enthusiastic when discussing the future of Bitcoin and appreciated that it could be daunting for those in the public who has yet to make the leap into the world of cryptocurrency.

“I’m excited about Bitcoin because I believe it’s the future of money – it’s valuable, super secure, and no one can mess with it,” Rodgers said.

“Bitcoin is new and the concept can be intimidating, so to make Bitcoin more accessible to my own fans I’m giving out a total of $1 million in BTC now too.”

NFL athletes in cryptocurrency and NFTs

Rodgers is following what is a growing list of National Football League (NFL) athletes investing their time and money into cryptocurrency and NFTs.

NFL veteran Russell Okung hosted a Bitcoin meetup for beginners and was also vocal in his preference to be paid in it.

The reigning NFL Superbowl MVP, Tom Brady, co-founded his own NFT company – Autograph – a platform that creates digital collections of the biggest names in sport and entertainment such as Tiger Woods, Naomi Osaka, and Usain Bolt.

The NFL has taken advantage of the popularity of NFTs, linking up with Dapper Labs, to launch a market of NFL sports highlights where users will be able to buy and sell these moments.