Bitcoiners, are you ready for some basketball?
Russell Okung, a resigned Carolina Panthers NFL player, wants to ensure that players in his fresh flag football club, known as Bitball, are paid in Bitcoin in addition to playing basketball.
Okung announced the new venture on X ( formerly Twitter ) on Thursday.
Okung began envisioning a club where people earn Bitcoin, followers may own real bets, and communities could create money, he told in an interview.
” No more intermediaries taking their breaks or making secret offers”, Okung added. ” Today, it’s about true sport and real Bitcoin, which means real opportunity. That’s what I’m building—a fresh club”.
After leaving the NFL and clumsily convincing club owners of Currency’s merits, Okung claimed the concept for Bitball came about.
” That’s the revolution”, Okung said. We’re moving away from seeing players lose their families and inheriting millennial wealth.
The first ranks of Bitball were filled with enthusiastic players like friends and former NFL players that Okung needed to fill, including players he had in mind.
” It’s been great to see that I made this historical statement, and the answer is for individuals to move in and go deep”, he said.
24 expert football players may play in Abu Dhabi’s Al Nahyan Stadium for the first Bitball game on December 10. According to Okung, Bitcoin seminar attendees may attend the game for nothing.
In December 2020, Okung made headlines when he announced he would take half of his$ 13 million salary, around$ 6.5 million, in Bitcoin. He also holds all of his Bitcoin, which he’s not sold, and continues to scoop up more, he confirmed to .
The 240 Bitcoins Okung received in 2020 would be worth about$ 21 million, despite the fact that he did not disclose how many he already owns. Despite the ups and downs of bitcoin, Okung said he’d not buy.
” I did n’t do this” Pay me in Bitcoin” thing to trade it in for dollars”, Okung explained. ” For me, it was an opportunity to transform my mother’s coming. Bitcoin is n’t just an investment—it represents freedom in digital form”.
” From a purchasing power point, that’s exciting”, he said. ” I took a chance, and it turns out it was a bright risk”,
Okung sees potential in using Bitcoin as a framework for fresh value creation and sees the money as a means of doing so. ” I even invest in Bitcoin mining, so I’m interested in both terrain and vitality”, he said. ” Energy, in special, serves as an anchor for a high-output society”.
Bitcoin and” civilization-building”, he believes, are central to his investment philosophy. I think we can create lasting companies that can meet our needs, whether in the form of fiat or money, if we focus on establishing the necessary components that an enlightened world requires.
Following Donald Trump’s win in the election next week, the price of bitcoin and the wider crypto market soared. Bitcoin hit some new all-time peaks before peaking at$ 93, 477 on Wednesday.
While traders predict that Bitcoin will attain$ 1 million if Trump fulfills his pledge to start a Bitcoin reserve in the United States, Okung stressed that Trump’s support has a symbolic significance, including speaking at a Bitcoin conference earlier this year.
” That’s a pretty significant movement, showing that those involved in Bitcoin are suddenly being taken seriously”, he said. We have a genuine and strong voice that has the power to influence both the future of America and other countries.
Despite the current enthusiasm, Okung remains intensely conscious of Bitcoin’s volatility—still, he remains focused on the bigger picture.
” When I first bought Bitcoin, I knew about the uncertainty and studied the market processes. I expected highs and lows, but one major measurement stood up: over a four-year ocean, Bitcoin usually goes up”, he said. I questioned whether people on the planet consider Bitcoin to be beneficial. If yes, then it’s doubtful to ever go to zero. That gave me confidence, even through the FTX aftermath”.
Okung is enthusiastic about Bitcoin’s coming in activities and envisions a time when different leagues, including football, baseball, and more, choose Bitcoin as payment for athletes.
” If nobody else is economical enough to do it, then I’ll do it”, he said. ” But for now, we’re focused on symbol football”.
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