This past spring’s crypto crash is sparking a lot conversation around the asset class. As bulls rush to defend the industry and bears grow louder in their criticisms, the digital money market is becoming one of the most heated debates in the country. As the debate carries on, critics are also turning to one NFL athlete to drive home their point. They believe the Trevor Lawrence crypto contract proves crypto is not yet ready to exist as a means of payment.
Trevor Lawrence is one of the latest high-profile players in the NFL. After playing collegiate football at Clemson University and leading them to a national title, Lawrence had built up significant draft stock. When Lawrence eventually declared for the league draft, many expected the quarterback to net the first overall pick.
As the NFL draft neared last year and crypto projects began to make their move on the U.S. market, Lawrence also became a high-value sponsorship opportunity. Before even receiving the first overall pick, the player inked several deals. Perhaps the most talked-about — and certainly the most controversial — was his sponsorship deal with Blockfolio.
Lawrence isn’t the first athlete to take his salary in crypto, but he’s certainly the most high-profile. After earning the deal and being drafted with the first pick, the player received a signing bonus of around $24 million. Blockfolio, as part of the deal, converted the bonus to cryptocurrency and put it in Lawrence’s wallet. Looking back on the agreement today, though, critics have all the evidence they need to strike down crypto as a transactional currency.
Trevor Lawrence Crypto Contract Ages Poorly, Showing Massive Losses
The Trevor Lawrence crypto contract news is over a year old now. However, critics are returning to the story to use the numbers as evidence of a serious problem crypto bulls face by trying to accelerate crypto adoption.
Specifically, The Spun — an affiliate of Sports Illustrated — is now looking back on Lawrence’s deal to see how it’s aging. And as it turns out, it’s going pretty poorly. The athlete’s sizable signing bonus has lost a significant amount of value as a result of the crypto market’s volatility. In total, the investment has lost more than 62% of its value.
The assets in the wallet now total just under $9 million. For reference, the 14th overall pick in the same NFL draft earned a signing bonus of $9 million. These losses equate to Lawrence falling 13 selections further down in his draft class.
Retrospectives on the sponsorship deal lead back to one main takeaway; there’s not enough stability in the crypto market to justify the assets as payment.
Regardless of his losses, Lawrence is still earning millions upon millions of dollars. But it’s also safe to say Lawrence is far better off financially than the average retail investor. It’s far more problematic, then, to see different products cropping up combining crypto and important investment choices, all geared toward everyday investors.
Take Bitcoin (BTC-USD) 401ks, for example. These products are meant to entice average Americans into putting highly volatile assets in retirement funds. As the Lawrence news suggests, this is a terrible idea. What the industry needs to do to make these products more safe for everyday investors is yet to be determined. But there’s an obvious issue that needs remedying; companies are getting ahead of themselves by rolling out these products too fast.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
