Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have lost more than half their value in recent months, according to Harvard Business School, but UFC fighters like Luana Pinheiro are dismissing the short-term “crypto crash” with plans to buckle up for the long haul.
Streaking strawweight sensation Luana Pinheiro will become the first female under the UFC banner to receive her fight purse entirely in Bitcoin, according to a press release from BitWage, joining her boyfriend and current flyweight standout Matheus Nicolau in the crypto cash-out club.
“I do not think I will have a problem with Bitcoin going down or up,” Pinheiro said (via BitCoin Magazine). “If it was not volatile it would not go up either. Think about this: it takes on average 10-15 years for an individual to get a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, so my time preference here is equally long if not longer.”
That means Jon Fitch only has three-to-eight years left.
The 28 year-old Pinheiro (10-1) scored a UFC contract by knocking out Stephanie Frausto on Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in late 2020, then continued her winning ways inside the Octagon, registering back-to-back victories over Randa Markos and Sam Hughes.
“Don’t forget that I am from Brazil, so I know a thing or two about inflation and its effects,” Pinheiro continued. “I was born around 1994, at that time Brazilian currency Real was introduced and pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar at that time. Now it is 5 BRL for 1 USD. What do we use Bitcoin again for?”
Pinheiro’s UFC return is currently on hold as she recovers from an injury suffered last April.