The #8-ranked UFC flyweight fighter Matheus Nicolau penned a deal to obtain his future combat earnings in bitcoin by means of the payroll service, Bitwage, on March twenty first, 2022. Nicolau is the primary Latin American UFC athlete to take a paycheck in bitcoin.
“I’m thrilled to be receiving my earnings in bitcoin,” Nicolau said. “As an athlete, I work hard to earn a living for myself, but with rising inflation I worry that this hard work goes to waste. By using Bitwage to earn bitcoin, I know that I am securing the value of my work.”
Photo by Jason Silva Brave
Nicolau, a Brazilian native of Belo Horizante, has come to perceive the significance of Bitcoin, whereas the market has seen explosive development over the previous two years in South America due to financial burdens like inflation.
“We are very bullish on Bitcoin,” Nicolau’s supervisor Vinícius Las Casas commented, “and we are looking to spread the Bitcoin gospel with this latest deal.” Alongside the Brazilian fighter, his supervisor may also be utilizing Bitwage to obtain a portion of his wages in bitcoin.
Bitwage is the world’s largest payroll, invoicing, and advantages firm within the Bitcoin house. Their service permits each people and firms world wide to obtain their month-to-month wages in bitcoin. Bitwage is pioneering the payroll business with their bitcoin 401k and lightning payroll merchandise.
Photo by Dan Behr
“Working with Matheus has been a rewarding experience for us,” stated Bitwage CEO Jonathan Chester. “He’s an amazing fighter with a champion mentality.”
Nicolau is among the many newest in a pattern {of professional} athletes pioneering bitcoin offers: skilled soccer gamers Achara Ifunanyachi and Alex Crognale made related monetary strikes in 2021 with Bitwage.
MMA fighters usually, and even among the internationally recognized superstars within the UFC, are paid in lump sums solely after their occasions, a lot of their pay being contingent on a profitable efficiency and efficiency bonuses. Many fighters are pressured to tackle further jobs outdoors of their rigorous and time consuming coaching regimens simply to afford to pay their teaching and restoration groups.
The UFC particularly is infamous for undervaluing a few of its highest pay-per-view incomes fighters, with a few of its most decorated fighters merely strolling away from the group, or in search of and taking over high-paying crossover fight opportunities in boxing. Through Bitwage, fighters like Nicolau can receives a commission in bitcoin with out the UFC being onboarded to the service. They can concentrate on coaching, whereas understanding their financial savings are safe in bitcoin.
Bitwage’s providers are out there to the broader market as nicely. Here’s how it works: You register with Bitwage and obtain a checking account quantity. Next, you select what proportion of your paycheck you need to obtain in bitcoin, and then you definately give the brand new account quantity to your employer. Once they ship the paycheck, you’ll obtain bitcoin in an deal with that you simply management. If you didn’t allocate 100% of your wages to go into bitcoin in a given pay interval, you’ll obtain the remainder of the cash in your common checking account. This is precisely how Matheus might be receiving his future funds from the UFC.
Photo by Jason Silva Brave
“Matheus represents our exponential growth trend in Latin America, with people opting to get paid in bitcoin in order to preserve their hard-earned money,” Chester said.
For Nicolau, and different MMA fighters who perceive the worth of arduous cash, and a sound retailer of worth, Bitcoin is the answer. Bitcoin will protect their irregular earnings over time when custodied accurately. It permits fighters to alleviate future profession uncertainty, by offering them with an appreciating sovereign wealth fund.
Nicolau is at present having fun with a 4 combat win streak within the UFC. This deal comes solely days earlier than Nicolau’s combat on March twenty sixth towards David Dvorak in Columbus, Ohio. Win, lose, or draw, his incomes’s might be instantly processed by Bitwage and transformed into bitcoin.
Nicolau explains, “I make my money the hard way. I bleed for it. MMA is an intense sport that you put everything you have into. While I constantly fight on one hand, I have a feeling I am constantly losing money on the other. Then it hit me: Bitcoin is the solution. I worked with Bitwage to create this solution to ensure that my work pays dividends in the future.”
