At the height of the cryptocurrency craze, it appeared as if there was an unlimited supply of money to be spent.
It all fell apart in one fell swoop, but not without some athletes cashing in.
Author Michael Lewis revealed Tom Brady was paid $55 million and Stephen Curry received $35 million to promote the failed FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is currently facing seven federal charges, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was also a significant donor to both major political parties before the collapse of FTX, which filed bankruptcy in November 2022 and caused a nosedive in the cryptocurrency market.
Brady reportedly lost $30 million in the FTX fallout. The company had paid him $30 million in stock and his then-wife Gisele Bundchen $18 million to pitch the exchange.
Curry also lost an unreported sum.
It’s unclear how much of the payments given to the athletes to pitch FTX were given in stock and crypto and how much was offered through standard U.S. currency.
Bitcoin’s price has gone back up since the aftermath of FTX’s fallout and now stands at a 47.3 percent increase over the last year.
