Athletes & Crypto: A Marriage Gone Bad?

Malcolm Lemmons

5 min readMar 1, 2023

A quick breakdown of athlete’s growing relationship with crypto

Going Crypto Crazy

In November 2022, the crypto world came to a screeching halt.

FTX, which was once one of the worlds leading cryptocurrency exchanges, collapsed right before our eyes.

The news sent social media into a frenzy.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old wonderchild, and CEO lost billions overnight.

Millions of users scrambled in an attempt to recover funds.

Investors quietly wrote their investments down to zero.

But the question everyone was asking was, “How could this happen?”

Even the athletes that were involved.

Athletes x Crypto: A Beautiful Relationship

Hall of Fame NFL quarterback, Tom Brady served as a brand ambassador for FTX since 2021, and even appeared in a series of commercials.

The former Tampa Bay Buccaneer supposedly held over 1.1 million common shares (valued at around $45 million) in the defunct cryptocurrency exchange, while his ex-wife and fashion model Gisele Bündchen held around 680,000 (valued at around $25 million), as reported by Bloomberg and Insider.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only athlete who had a vested interest in FTX or the crypto landscape for that matter.

Here are several athletes and their involvement in crypto over the past few years:

Steph Curry (global ambassador for FTX)
Spencer Dinwiddie (bitcoin investor and co-founder of web3 startup Calaxy)
O’Dell Beckham (received compensation in bitcoin)
Russell Okung (received compensation in bitcoin)
Aaron Rodgers (received compensation in bitcoin)
Shohei Ohtani (global ambassador for FTX and among athletes sued in collapse)
Klay Thompson (received part of his salary in Bitcoin)
Andre Iguodala (received part of his salary in Bitcoin)
Luana Pinherio (collaborated with Bitwage, to convert portions of her salary into bitcoin)
Paul Pierce (recently fined by SEC for promoting EMAX coin)
Summa Rae (received compensation in bitcoin)
Cade Cunningham (signed a multiyear partnership with BlockFi and receive his signing bonus in bitcoin)
CJ McCollum (has a partnership with StormX)
Udonis Haslem (lost $15 million in FTX investment)

And believe me when I say this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Athletes and crypto have become closely associated over the past couple of years, but why?

With the volatility and instability of the crypto market, shouldn’t athletes (at least the ones looking to preserve their wealth) avoid it?

Let’s examine it a little closer…

Why I Believe Athletes Have Ventured Into Crypto

Web3 represents a movement.

It’s not so much about new technology as it is an ideology of how we can give power and ownership to the masses.

In my viewpoint, crypto is the gas that powers the engine of this movement.

It gives people the ability to buy, sell and trade without intermediaries.

It gives way to trustless and permissionless transactions.

Take bitcoin for example. It’s the oldest and most notable currency.

Some of the main benefits include:

Instant access to funds
Quicker transaction times
Hedging against inflation
Easier international transfers
Limited supply which can increase demand

The fundamentals of crypto can be attractive to anyone looking to take control over their own devices.

And when you look at bitcoin, it’s essentially digital gold.

The upside is clearly there and the novelty peaks interest.

Given that athletes are now privy to some of the latest and greatest tech advancements these days and the basic characteristics of crypto, wouldn’t this intrigue anyone?

You might be saying, well there are thousands of coins, and exchanges out there. How do you know the difference?

Many don’t.

This is why we’re seeing situations like FTX or Luna coin happen.

But my sentiment is always about due diligence first.

Whether it’s bitcoin, buycoin, or buttcoin (this isn’t real btw) — you have to know what you’re getting into.

Secondly, innovation takes time. And during that time, bad actors will appear and be weeded over the long term.

It’s a natural evolution of the process.

Athletes have a natural affinity for crypto for the same reasons most people do.

And their fans are following closely behind.

Sports Fans Love Crypto?

Crypto might be a relatively new concept, but sports fans know their way around the market better than most.

Check out these stats:

47% of sports fans said they are familiar with cryptocurrency; 27% said they currently own some
66% of self-proclaimed “avid” sports fans and 72% of sports bettors said they’re familiar with cryptocurrency
Men are about twice as familiar with cryptocurrency as women, and 3 times as likely to own some

And with sports betting and fantasy sports on the rise — I only expect these numbers to increase over time.

Although there was a drawback of crypto commercials during this year’s Super Bowl, don’t expect that to be the norm in the future.

While there will be some reservations from some brands, the flood of crypto-related marketing partnerships in the sports industry seems destined to continue for the foreseeable future.