TL;DR Breakdown

• Canadian Basketballers to receive salary in BTC
• Player happy to get paid in BTC

The Canadian Elite Basketball League would begin paying players a portion of their salary in Bitcoin from next week.

The league announced yesterday that it had partnered with Toronto-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitbuy to convert part of basketball players’ existing salaries from Canadian dollars to Bitcoin (BTC) on request.

Hence, the players will get their funds delivered to their personal crypto wallets when it’s time to receive salaries.

More than 70 players on active rosters in the seven teams in the basketball leagues are eligible to receive a portion of their salary in Bitcoin. In addition, Bitbuy, which will also facilitate the crypto payment, will join the Canadian Elite Basketball league as a sponsor.

Player unconcerned about Bitcoin volatility

One of the players receiving part of his salary in Bitcoin expressed excitement for the plan and said he doesn’t care much about volatility.

Nighthawks’ Kimbal Mackenzie (24) said he would accept the offer after just signing for the new season.

He said he believes crypto is the future and to get half his salary in an investment he believes will appreciate in the next 10-30 years is a no-brainer.

“The opportunity to be paid in Bitcoin is something I’m incredibly excited about,” said Mackenzie. “I believe cryptocurrency is the future. The ability to have part of my salary go directly into an investment that I believe will appreciate greatly over the next 10-30 years is a no-brainer.”

“[If Bitcoin falls], so be it. It was a decision I was prepared to make. On the other hand, if it increases, maybe I will retire in two years, he said further.

Several sports franchises and firms over time have partnered with crypto and blockchain firms. Athletes and football clubs have also launched fan tokens, with others jumping on the Non Fungible Token trend, which has been on recently.