Rapper Drake turns to Bitcoin for million-dollar Super Bowl bet

Super Bowl Bet: Drake placed a series of bets using Bitcoin worth $1.3 mn to back the Los Angeles Rams triumphing over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Singer Halsey poses as she arrives for the Super Bowl Music Fest at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (REUTERS)

America is gearing up for its biggest sports battle of the year, and Canadian rapper Drake is putting his money where his mouth is -- crypto-style. The musician placed a series of bets using Bitcoin worth C$1.6 million ($1.3 million) in total on Thursday, including C$600,000 to back the Los Angeles Rams triumphing over the Cincinnati Bengals.

He also wagered C$500,000 each on Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. having “over 0.5 anytime touchdown”, a screenshot of his bets showed, and over 62.5 receiving yards during the game. 

Drake's total payout could reach C$2.9 million, according to the valuation of Bitcoin by online betting app Stake at the time his bets were placed.

“All bets are in on the family,” Drake said in an Instagram post where he shared the images of his Bitcoin-based bet.

Beckham Jr. was on board, responding in a comment: “It's time.” The football star announced last year that he intends to receive his “new salary” from the National Football League in Bitcoin, as part of an arrangement with Block Inc.'s smartphone payments service Cash App.

Viewers of this year's Super Bowl were anyway unlikely to escape the buzz around cryptocurrencies. 

Other sports betting platforms are even offering wagers on digital assets making an appearance at the Super Bowl. For example, punters can stake crypto tokens on whether a Bored Ape, a popular type of nonfungible token, might get shown on screen. 

The Bitcoin price has dropped about 37% since its November peak and was trading around $43,700 on Friday.