Matheus Nicolau, a famous Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter, is the latest athlete to request for his earnings to be paid in crypto. Nicolau has asked to receive his subsequent fight earnings in Bitcoin (BTC).
The UFC flyweight fighter, ranked number eight globally, received his first BTC salary on Monday, March 21, 2022. This was achieved with a collaboration between Nicolau and crypto payroll platform, Bitwage.
CoinTelegraph reported that the Brazilian sportsman has opted to take his pay in BTC to hedge against the rising inflation. Nicolau said that earning Bitcoin will help him secure the value of his sweat and not worry about his money going to waste.
He says, “I make my money the hard way; I bleed for it. MMA is an intense sport that you put everything you have into. While I constantly fight on one hand, I have a feeling I am constantly losing money on the other. Then it hit me: Bitcoin is the solution.”
Nicolau isn’t the only one in his team accepting Bitcoin as payment. His manager, Vinícius Las Casas, will also use Bitwage to receive a portion of his salary. He said, “We are very bullish on Bitcoin, and we are looking to spread the Bitcoin gospel with this latest deal.”
With the announcement, Nicolau is the first Latin American athlete and the second UFC fighter to be paid in Bitcoin. In January 2022, UFC heavyweight fighter Francis Ngannou announced that he would take half of his UFC 270 prize purse in Bitcoin via Cash App.
Other sportspeople have opted to receive money in crypto in recent times. Seven NFL players who’ve done the same include Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, who decided to receive some or all of their salary in crypto in 2021.
This is a big move for crypto users and investors. As more influential people adopt cryptocurrencies and see the usefulness of decentralised finance, there is potential for more of the world’s population to adopt it.
