The Canadian Elite Basketball League became the first pro sports league in North America to adopt Bitcoin to pay basketballers salary. The CEBL has partnered with Bitbuy, a top Canadian crypto platform to offer players a portion of their salaries in the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
According to an official statement, Bitbuy will first convert the Canadian dollar salaries of players into Bitcoin and then transfer it into the personal crypto wallet of the player. the price of bitcoin hasn’t been stable over the past week but the digital currency is gathering momentum and it is now being accepted by more people and businesses. Two weeks ago, El – Salvador officially became the first country to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender and now we have another massive news for Bitcoin.
The latest announcement from the CEBL came after Russel Okung, a player in the (NFL) who plays for Carolina Panthers received 50% of his 13-million-dollar annual salary in Bitcoin. In December 2020, he became the first player to get paid in the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Talking about the recent development, Kimbal Mackenzie a guard for the Guelph Nighthawks, said “the opportunity to be paid in Bitcoin is something I’m incredibly excited about. I believe cryptocurrency is the future. The ability to have part of my salary go directly into an investment that I believe will appreciate greatly over the next 10 to 30 years is a no-brainer. The CEBL continues to provide us, players, with forward-thinking opportunities, and the option to be paid in Bitcoin further highlights that they are one of the top leagues in the world.”
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are gradually growing popular in the sports industry over the last few years. This can be attributed to the increasing surge of digital currencies globally. In 2019 Dallas Mavericks became one of the first teams to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for tickets and merchandise.
Bitbuy in their official announcement through their VP marketing Charlie Aikenhead stated that “we are proud to support homegrown Canadian sports and to partner with the league on this first to the market initiative. We think this represents a significant shift in how athletes are thinking about compensation, and we are excited to help the CEBL players protect their long-term wealth by getting paid in Bitcoin.
