A lot of celebrities and politicians that have gotten into the crypto craze as of late are likely regretting their actions given that bitcoin and several other leading digital assets have experienced heavy price drops. Individuals like Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City; Aaron Rodgers, a quarterback with the Green Bay Packers, and Melania Trump, the first lady of the United States, have all entered the crypto foray in recent weeks, but are now experiencing heavy financial losses as bitcoin and several other leading digital assets experience massive price falls.
Are People Like Adams Suddenly Feeling Bad About Crypto?
Eric Adams, for example, recently converted his first paycheck as mayor of the biggest city in the world into both bitcoin and Ethereum through Coinbase, one of the biggest and most popular digital currency trading platforms in the nation. Adams made a lot of headway when it came to bitcoin after getting into online rants and battles with Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, Florida.
Adams commented that he was going to be accepting his first three paychecks as mayor in cryptocurrency. He also stated that he wanted public schools in the region to begin teaching blockchain and crypto to students given that these were the financial methods of the future, and he wanted later generations to be prepared for these changes.
Adams, true to his word, spent time converting his first paycheck – which he got a few Fridays ago – into BTC and ETH. However, with both assets experiencing heavy dips in recent days, that paycheck conversion ultimately resulted in heavy losses for Adams, and it’s unclear if he’s going to continue his bitcoin payment agenda or hold off until the crypto space improves.
There Are Different Strategies When Crashes Occur
Aaron Rogers also recently announced that he was going to be converting part of his salary as a football player into crypto. However, he’s also likely taken a substantial loss at this point. Lon Mahanta – an economics fellow with the Brookings Institution – explained in an interview:
People that are in it for the long run actually may say, ‘Hey, this is beneficial to me. The value of what I get today is going to be higher in six months…’ For those who were receiving their earnings three months ago, six months ago, and have now faced this crash, they’re still paying taxes on that much higher value. They get taxed at that higher amount, regardless of the volatility of the up and down, and so I think a question for the policymakers and anybody that’s sort of receiving their compensation in bitcoin is, ‘Do they fully understand the tax implications?’
Melania Trump also recently hosted an auction that saw her famous white hat and an NFT of her eyes sold for around $250,000. Bids all took place in crypto and were heavily affected by the crash.
