In an interview held at The Best Business Show, Barkley stated that he should be paid 100% of his endorsement, which equates to over $10 million annually, in Bitcoin (BTC).
Partnering with Strike
Barkley was speaking to Anthony Pompliano during the show. Other guests who were also speaking during the show included the CEO of Strike, Jack Mallers. Strike is a payment firm that operates on the Lightning Network. According to Barkley, he had a personal relationship with Mallers, and it was he who helped him uncover the full benefits of investing in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
Mallers also helped the development of BTC as a legal tender in El Salvador. The firm has been chosen to help El Salvador develop a crypto wallet.
Barkley earns an eight-figure salary from his endorsement deals. Currently, he is looking toward playing for the New York Giants, a team sponsored by Grayscale, one of the leading digital asset custodians.
By partnering with Strike, Barkley will get his endorsements directly in his Strike accounts. Strike payments will convert the fiat currency into Bitcoin. Barkley also believes that getting his money in Bitcoin will generate more income for him.
At the beginning of the year, Sean Culkin, another NFL player, also adopted Bitcoin and converted his salary into a digital asset. By doing this, these players could reap big from their NFL salaries and leverage the immense benefits generated from the crypto boom.
Bitcoin to Curb Against Inflation
Barkley stated that his interest in BTC was influenced by unpredictable inflation in the fiat market. The same concept of inflation has also made Ricardo Salinas Pliego, an influential businessman in Mexico, state that the fiat market is a fraud.
“We’re seeing inflation, and we’re learning you can’t save wealth. That’s why I am going to be taking my marketing money in Bitcoin,” He stated.
Metrics from US Inflation Calculator stated that the year-on-year inflation rate for the US dollar had increased by around 4.8%. This means that between June 2020 and June 2021, inflation had grown from 0.6% to 5.4%. In contrast, BTC has grown by 253.7% during the same one-year period while also considering the huge drop from April’s all-time high.
Such figures have shifted people’s perception of cryptocurrencies, and their adoption as a store of value has continued to grow.
