Shaquille O’Neal was among the biggest names to push and promote NFTs and cryptocurrency, as the market plummets to new lows, Cade Cunningham’s “Bitcoin signing bonus” is in serious jeopardy. He is the latest to fall, victim after his signing partner declared bankruptcy.
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The Cryptocurrency market is in peril. With the announcement of the 2nd largest exchange, FTX declaring bankruptcy, a lot of sportspersons associated with the company have seen their investments go under. A lot of other associates of FTX and partner companies are also facing the brunt.
The debacle that emerged due to liquidity issues and public tarnishing of names, has hurt a lot of people. The markets are tough but the crypto market is a different beast altogether.
How do NBA players get affected? For starters, they were eager to get on board when the markets were “up only” and as it crashes, so does their investment. Cade Cunnigham’s example is a good case study.
Cade Cunningham’s ‘signing bonus’ is the latest victim in the Cryptocurrency market’s crash
The no. 1 pick from the 2021 NBA Draft, Cade Cunningham took on his signing bonus, in the form of Bitcoin. At the time Bitcoin was trading between $30,000 to $60,000 and it was at all-time highs. It made sense to take up a bonus payment in the form of an asset that appreciates over time.
But as the market has been hit hard by war, turmoil, and inflation, there was no way for it to continue an uptrend. As a result, billions and perhaps even trillions in wealth were wiped out.
Cunningham was set to receive the signing bonus from the Pistons and deposited it into a bank called Block-Fi. Block-Fi aimed to be a bank for the new generation and wished to rival traditional banking systems. But alas, it failed. As of yesterday, it declared bankruptcy. A company that was seeking funding at a valuation of $5 billion dollars is now bankrupt. Talk about a fall from grace.
Cunningham’s bonus is effectively close to zero if he had stored it with Block-Fi. And given how he signed with them prior to signing with the Detroit Pistons, it is likely his “Bitcoins” were kept with them.
While there is still a possibility that the assets will be returned to the user, after bailouts and a series of procedures. Chances are Cade will never touch his bonus again.
How much was it? We don’t know. What we do know is that Cunningham signed a cool $45 million rookie deal, so factoring that, his signing bonus will be in 7 figures and possibly even touch 8.
Also read: Charles Barkley Publicly Questions 6ft 2″ Ja Morant’s Leadership Skills
Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry’s Association with FTX was the first domino
Of course, Block Fi’s latest crunch is down to the collapse of FTX. And at the height of its powers, which was perhaps this year’s super bowl, FTX’s partners were Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry.
While they may have been more like ambassadors and silent investors than partners, safe to say any amount of money these two parked in FTX would have been wiped out.
If you ask market experts, the height of the market is euphoria. A stage when anyone and everyone joins in. Shaq and Steph might have been those people. We highly doubt they understand the complexity of the market and the tokens in general.
But since it looked like “free money” they dived in anyway. FTX was valued at $32 billion at one point and now is sitting at 0. Shaquille O’Neal was a part of this $32 billion debacle. And so was Steph.
While they may still be multi-millionaires, it is no secret they lost tens of millions. In Cade Cunningham’s case, he just proved why taking signing bonuses in just plain ol’ Dollars makes much more sense.
Also read: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Becomes First Guard Since Michael Jordan with Highest FG% on 30+ PPG
