Former Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs has revealed that he receives half of his wages in Cryptocurrency in a move which could change football for the foreseeable future with players in the Premier League potentially asking for the same.
Gibbs - now playing for Inter Miami CF in the MLS who owned by David Beckham and managed by Phil Neville - is paid 50 per cent of his salary in Bitcoin. He has explained how his wages are paid into a traditional bank account while the other half is sent to crypto finance company XBTO, who convert it into bitcoin and add it to the player’s wallet.
It's a move which has been replicated in other leagues, with NFL offensive tackle Russell Okung being paid his salary by the Carolina Panthers in Bitcoin in 2020, with football players now seemingly following suit.
ALSO READ: Every word Mikel Arteta said on Xhaka's display, Saka's injury, Tavares' game and top four
Speaking to the i, Gibbs revealed why he has made the decision to do so. He said: "I had a few people reach out to me to ask. That’s kind of why I did it. I’m not a controversial person, I don’t come out and speak about a lot of topics. But this is something that was calling me to at least announce what I’m doing.
“It’s still a topic people don’t fully understand and the main reason for me to announce it was to raise awareness, for people to ask questions. I know a lot of players, they reached out and asked about it. I don’t tell them what to do but I tell them why I did it and I let people make the decisions themselves. Maybe one or two have listened to me.”
Gibbs added that he saw Premier League footballers potentially asking for the same in the coming years. Over the last few months, both Liverpool and Manchester City have launched nun-fungible tokens (NFT) collections - which has been met with criticism - whilst Watford are currently sponsored by cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
Gibbs, now 32, made 230 appearances for Arsenal before moving to West Brom in 2017.
