Back in late 2021, Bitcoin was on this insane tear, pushing toward all-time highs, and you couldn’t watch an NFL game without seeing crypto ads everywhere. It felt like digital money was about to take over the world. That’s when Odell Beckham Jr., who’d just jumped ship mid-season from the Cleveland Browns to the Los Angeles Rams, dropped this bombshell tweet:
“It’s a NEW ERA & to kick that off I’m hyped to announce that I’m taking my new salary in bitcoin thanks to @CashApp.”
He even threw in a $1 million Bitcoin giveaway for fans, making the whole thing feel like a big promo stunt.
A tweet from X.
OBJ inked a one-year deal with the Rams on November 11, 2021, right after getting cut by the Browns. It included a $750,000 base salary, a $500,000 signing bonus, and up to $3 million in incentives that could push the total to $4.25 million. He balled out that season, helping them snag Super Bowl LVI, which probably triggered all those bonuses.
Thanks to his partnership with Cash App, he only converted that base salary into Bitcoin. BTC was trading around $64,000 back then, so he got roughly 11.7 coins. It wasn’t like the Rams paid him straight in crypto they handed over dollars, and he flipped it through the app. But man, taxes must’ve stung right away, probably taking 30% to 50% off the top between federal and California hits.
Bitcoin’s rollercoaster ride didn’t take long to kick in. By the middle of 2022, the market cratered, and prices dipped under $20,000. That turned OBJ’s stash into something like $250,000 or less. Sports talking heads and internet trolls had a field day, ripping him for what looked like a dumb gamble.
But fast-forward to 2024 and 2025, and things turned around big time. Bitcoin surged past $100,000, even touching $120,000 to $126,000 at points. At those peaks, his 11.7 BTC would’ve been worth over $1.4 million basically double what he started with, pre-taxes. He clapped back at the haters on X in July 2025:
“Sooooo bitcoin is at an ALL TIME high today…safe to say we still happy with our decision.”
And earlier in June:
“People doubted me when I accepted my @CashApp paycheck in Bitcoin. Jokes on you.”
Now, here we are in February 2026, and Bitcoin’s sitting around $65,000 after a bit of a dip. That means his original holdings are worth about $760,000 a measly $10,000 profit over four years, if he held onto everything. Throw in those taxes, and it might even be a net loss. No one’s sure if he sold during the highs; he hasn’t said.
This all blew up again thanks to a February 2026 post from @mymixtapez on X:
“Odell Beckham Jr. took his entire $750k salary in bitcoin when he signed with the Rams in 2021. Btc was worth $64k, today It’s worth $65k.”
Memes exploded, clowning him for the “barely break-even” move. Replies were split one guy said,
“this just shows you people really wanna hate on you cause I didn’t see these tweets when BTC was 124k,” and another joked, “imagine the stress if BTC had crashed instead.”
Those comments hit the nail on the head for where it’s at now, but they ignore the wild ups in between. Sure, the critics are right about the stomach-churning drops, but fans point out how OBJ stuck to his guns, betting on Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation eating away at the dollar. They say you can’t just look at snapshots; it’s about the long game with fiat money losing value year after year.
