Giants' Saquon Barkley Says He'll Receive All Future Endorsement Money In Bitcoin

(CBSNewYork)- Cryptocurrency has steadily gained in popularity as an investment, over the last year of the COVID pandemic, the popularity has only continued to rise. As such, we've seen athletes begin to dip their toes into the crypto world. On Thursday, New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley announced he will be adding Bitcoin to his portfolio.

On an episode of the The Best Business Show with Andrew Pompiliano, Barkley said that he will be receiving all future endorsement money in Bitcoin thanks to a partnership with Strike, a platform that converts direct deposits into Bitcoin.

"You see inflation, you see how high it is right now, and you learn that you can't save yourself to wealth. You can't," Barkley said. "... That's why I'm going to be taking my marketing money in Bitcoin."

It's not the first time that an NFL player has converted their money into Bitcoin. Carolina Panthers lineman Russel Okung converted half of his salary into Bitcoin and free agent tight end Sean Culkin announced that he would be using Strike similarly to convert his base salary into Bitcoin.

Barkley, entering fourth his year in the NFL, has sponsorship deals with Nike, Pepsi and Panini sports cards among others.