Odell Beckham Jr.'s crypto buy-in might have just put the NFL star in financial straits, according to a sports analyst.
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 17: Odell Beckham Jr. #3 of the Los Angeles Rams takes a knee during an injury timeout during the third quarter against the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at SoFi Stadium on January 17, 2022 in Inglewood, California.
TotalProSports reports that the three-time Pro Bowler has lost "a ton" of his playing salary from the Los Angeles Rams, after announcing that he would take his roughly $4.25-million ($750,000 guaranteed) earnings in Bitcoin for the 2021-2022 season.
Beckham Jr was signed by the Rams on a one-year deal last year, after spending two and a half seasons with the Cleveland Browns.
According to sports analyst Darren Rovell on Twitter, OBJ's bitcoin investment basically lost an insane amount of money relative to his Rams salary:
The amount of people applauding players changing their salary into Bitcoin as if they were heroes has been comical.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 23, 2022
Rams WR Odell Beckham Jr., at least in the moment, provides a cautionary tale. pic.twitter.com/uW0QDdJrYy
As you can see in the tweet, Rovell argues that Beckham Jr.'s contract suffered a massive hit when the cryptocurrency's price dropped to almost half of its previous value. When OBJ signed his contract, Bitcoin was worth $64,293. Now, Rovell says it hovers around $35,400, which basically makes the NFL star's salary now worth $412,953 (since he took all of it in Bitcoin).
Since Beckham Jr. plays in California, state and federal taxes are what mostly did his salary in. Take the 50.3% federal and state tax rate out of the original $750,000, and the Rams' wide receiver reportedly only made a tiny $35,703 from his one-year contract.
That's a far cry from what a high-profile professional athlete like him should be making, given the circumstances.
As such, Rovell considers Beckham Jr.'s story a "cautionary tale" when it comes to people investing in crypto, particularly Bitcoin. However, he wasn't really the only NFL athlete to do so in recent times.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers also announced late last year that he will be taking a part of his salary in Bitcoin.
Read Also: How Risky is Bitcoin Trading?
Why Did Odell Beckham Jr.'s Crypto Buy-In Fail?
The simplest answer is that Bitcoin, alongside other major and small cryptocurrencies, have been experiencing a massive crash recently.
As you already saw, the Bitcoin crash has already seen an insane 40 percent drop in the coin's value from its last year's high of around $69,000. Ethereum (ETH) also dropped below its so-called support level of $3,000, with other lesser-known cryptocurrencies dropping as much as 30 percent.
Top Crypto Fear and Greed Index Drops to Just 11 at Extreme Fear | Will the Coin Drop Even Further?
According to CNBC TV 18, this drop was likely the result of global authorities looking to ban (or at least severely limit) the usage of cryptocurrency.
One of the biggest recent news involves the Russian Central Bank's plan to ban any and all use or mining of crypto on all Russian territories, claiming that they pose a threat to financial stability and the nation's monetary policy sovereignty, reports EuroNews.
Should this proposal be approved, the ban would be one of the biggest in recent memory since China has also banned crypto mining and usage last year, basically forcing mining operations to move to the US and other places where crypto laws are more lax.
If you're looking to basically put all of your life savings into crypto, maybe consider the recent Bitcoin crash before going all-in.
Related Article: World's Biggest Cryptocurrency Crashes by 8.8% in the Last 24 Hours | Ether, Solana, Dogecoin Slip Down as Well
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
