Kansas City Chiefs tight end Sean Culkin plans to be the first NFL player to convert his entire salary to Bitcoin.
Culkin, 27, signed a reserve/future contract in February and will receive $920,000 if he makes the roster. He is vying to become the primary backup to six-time Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce.
“I fully believe Bitcoin is the future of finance and I wanted to prove that I have real skin in the game — not just trying to make a quick buck. I will be converting my entire 2021 NFL salary to #Bitcoin,” Culkin wrote Monday on Twitter.
I fully believe Bitcoin is the future of finance and I wanted to prove that I have real skin in the game – not just trying to make a quick buck. I will be converting my entire 2021 NFL salary to #Bitcoin.
— Sean Culkin (@culkin22) April 26, 2021
Former Carolina Panthers offensive tackle Russell Okung converted half of his $13 million salary from 2020 into Bitcoin.
Per Forbes, Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that you can buy, sell and exchange directly without an intermediary like a bank. It was publicly launched in 2009.
“To be honest, I don’t really view it as an extremely high-risk play,” Culkin said, according to the Kansas City Star. “… I zoomed out to the bigger picture. You see an asset that grew to a trillion-dollar market cap in 12 years, which I don’t think has been done in any other asset, the fact that it’s had three, four, five corrections of 50-plus percent here, we are (near) all-time highs. When I started to break away from viewing volatility as risk, it didn’t seem very risky to me.”
Culkin has recorded two receptions for 36 yards in 19 career games (12 starts) with the Los Angeles Chargers (2017-19) and Baltimore Ravens (2020). He was an undrafted free agent out of Missouri in 2017.
According to the Kansas City Star, Culkin has a finance degree and is working on his MBA.
–Field Level Media