Panthers' Russell Okung To Become 1st NFL Player Paid in Bitcoin; $6.5M of Panthers Salary (TWEETS)

Panthers’ Russell Okung To Become 1st NFL Player Paid in Bitcoin; $6.5M of Panthers Salary (TWEETS)

December 29, 2020, 1:08pm EST (Updated: December 2, 2022, 7:14pm)By Darrelle Lincoln

Has Russell Okung changed the game forever?

The Carolina Panthers will pay half of Russell Okung’s $13 million contract for 2020 in Bitcoin, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

An NFL first: #Panthers OT Russell Okung will receive half of his $13M in salary in Bitcoin. As part of a partnership with @in_strike and thanks to creative payroll solutions from the #Panthers, @russellokung will fulfill the goal he set when he tweeted “Pay me in Bitcoin!”
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 29, 2020

The two-time Pro Bowler reacted to the news on Tuesday:

Paid in Bitcoin. https://t.co/Ey6oOcmLjA
— Okung ? (@RussellOkung) December 29, 2020

Okung hasn’t been shy about his desire to be compensated in the form of the popular cryptocurrency:

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The world has never needed Bitcoin more.
— Okung ? (@RussellOkung) March 16, 2020

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Some are in Bitcoin to be another version of Wall Street, I’m in it for radical sovereignty.
— Okung ? (@RussellOkung) September 25, 2020

So many purchase Bitcoin to become cash rich, I bought it to be free from cash.
— Okung ? (@RussellOkung) December 28, 2020

The 32-year-old is the first NFL player to have a portion of his contract paid out in Bitcoin. Okung was traded to the Panthers from the Los Angeles Chargers in March.