Australian baseball club Perth Heat pays athletes in Bitcoin

Australian baseball club Perth Warmth has announced a partnership with Bitcoin payment processor OpenNode to accept and execute payments in Bitcoin (BTC). The partnership enables Perth Warmth to pay professional players and employees in Bitcoin.

According to the announcement, the professional sports club will send and receive Bitcoin payments over the Lightning Network. Additionally, partnering with OpenNode enables the Perth Warmth organization to accept bitcoin payments for grants, merchandise, and other sources of income.

Perth Warmth goes one step further and has also renamed itself the “Bitcoin Baseball Team”.

The club has also listed Bitcoin branded merchandise on its official website. The announcement shows a long-term commitment to mainstream Bitcoin adoption, and it states:

“As part of this exclusive sports world, the Perth Heat will bring Bitcoin to the club’s balance sheet.”

Steven Nelkovski, CEO of Perth Heat, believes that adopting the core values ​​of the Bitcoin protocol “will inspire others to adopt a monetary system that requires added value to thrive.” According to the club’s “Bitcoin Director” Patrick O’Sullivan:

“The club has established an initial position at BTC to secure its digital asset rights in the world’s most secure currency network and will continue to reinvest available capital in Bitcoin. Perth Warmth welcomes the fact that the future of money and corporate coffers will depend on the Bitcoin blockchain. “

Related: Australian senators are pushing the country to become the next crypto hub

Land Down Under has stepped up its efforts this year to enable regulated crypto adoption. On October 20, an Australian Senate committee called for a complete overhaul of cryptocurrency legislation and licensing.

As Cointelegraph reported a few days later, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission also published a guide on the release of Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) -based exchange-traded products:

“As of October 2021, Bitcoin and Ether appear to meet all five of the above factors in order to determine the appropriate base value for an ETP. We anticipate that the supply of crypto assets for non-financial products that can accommodate these factors will expand over time. ”

A recent survey conducted by Crypto.com also shows that Australian citizens are equally interested in exploring crypto investing. Of the 2,020 Australians aged 18 to 59 surveyed, 26% said they would consider giving something away for Christmas or buying crypto-related gifts.

According to Karl Mohan, general manager of Crypto.com, “Australians are clearly keen to use cryptocurrencies and incorporate their use into everyday spending.”