tl;dr: When role models start buying Bitcoin, mainstream adoption accelerats.

The fact that NFL lineman Russell Okung is now diverting half of his salary to Bitcoin is going to trigger a wave of new Bitcoin adoption.

First, it has driven awareness of Bitcoin to new heights among other athletes.

Until now, the only player who really was outspoken about digital assets was Spencer Dinwiddie. This move, as public as it is, will make others start to ask and learn.

Second, fans now feel the “social proof” they need to participate.

Anecdotally, it was quite interesting for me to observe the number of people who decided to-finally- jump into BTC once the price had gone past $25k. It was as if that was the final piece of evidence they needed to feel like this thing is “sticking around.”

But athletes play a special role in our society as role models, whether Charles Barkley wants to be or not.

This time feels different than 2017. Perhaps it’s the next phase of the Carlotta Perez cycle finally?