Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence Pushes Back Against False Crypto Loss Claim
One of the most widely reported -- and falsely speculated upon -- sports cryptocurrency stories was provided more clarity on Wednesday afternoon, with Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback confirming he did not place his entire NFL signing bonus into cryptocurrency.
Unsourced and false stories have widely circulated about Lawrence's potential losses in cryptocurrency in recent days, with some outlets speculating that Lawrence placed his entire $24 million rookie signing bonus in cryptocurrency and thus losing $15 million of it a year later due to the crash in the crypto market.
The problem, of course, is that Lawrence never placed his NFL signing bonus into crypto. Instead, Lawrence was given a bonus from Blockfolio and FTX as a part of an endorsement deal. The signing bonus was never tied to his NFL signing bonus, even though many reported it that way.
"This groundbreaking deal with Lawrence marks the first endorsement deal ever in which a significant signing bonus has been paid entirely in cryptocurrency," FTX said in a release last year when the partnership with Lawrence was announced.
"The bonus has been deposited directly into Lawrence’s Blockfolio account and consists of well-known and mainstream crypto investments Bitcoin and Ethereum. Lawrence also has his eye on the future of the crypto industry and has an investment in Solana, too."
“Trevor Lawrence is the future of professional football and cryptocurrency is the future of money, so the partnership was a no-brainer,” said Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of Blockfolio. “But as impressive as Trevor is on-the-field, I was most impressed with his character and charitable focus off the field.”
Blockfolio is a mobile cryptocurrency investment app that allows consumers to buy, sell, trade and track cryptocurrency with zero-fee trading, according to the company's own description.
"Powered by FTX, Blockfolio offers consumers some of the deepest liquidity in crypto markets globally," Blockfolio said in a release last year.
"FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange built by professional traders, for professional traders. FTX powers the Blockfolio app. FTX is robust enough for professional trading firms through its US and international exchanges and fosters an intuitive retail experience built for first-time users through the retail-focused Blockfolio app."
In short, this nothing-burger was exactly that. The No. 1 overall pick was speculated by many to be one of the face of the risks athletes face in investing in crypto, but it is instead now clear that Lawrence never put the massive investment into the currency that many assumed.
