Crypto in mainstream media

The booming of Bitcoin we know today hasn't always been a reality, the cryptocurrency struggled to get good airtime if any, but behind the bears, we saw bulls of all sizes pushing the Bitcoin revolution forward. Crypto truly started to shine when common household names began vouching for it with their words or in their day-to-day lives.

Whether it be integrated into their payment plans, tweeted about to their followers or visually represented in their attire, celebs allowed for crypto adoption to process a lot faster through mainstream media. Let's take a look at some of the people behind the Bitcoin revolution and what they've had to say about crypto.

Celebrities into cryptocurrency

Some of the earliest celebs interested in cryptocurrency took it upon themselves to allow users to pay for their albums and products in Bitcoin back in 2013, some of these names include Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Mel B. Famous Spice Girl Mel B began accepting Bitcoin for her music in 2013, saying: "Bitcoin unites my fans around the world using one currency." 50 Cent has even come forward to clarify the profits he has made from accepting crypto for his 2013 album, Animal Ambition. 50 Cent forgot about his wallet and found USD 8 million in profits within it upon finding.

Musicians aren't the only celebrities into cryptocurrency though, we find more references of support in the sporting world. Lionel Messi is one of the most recognized names in the world, having won 5 Ballon d'Ors, he took to his 90 million followers to announce himself as an ambassador of a blockchain-secured smartphone project. Messi's post was captioned "Excited about blockchain and happy to join @SirinLabs as a partner." Another sporting legend to give his crypto blessing is a renowned boxer, Mike Tyson, as he partnered with Bitcoin Direct in 2015 to create a Bitcoin ATM line. Tyson further contributed to the crypto adoption by creating a digital wallet for Android and IOS users, saying he was "grateful to be a part of the Bitcoin revolution." Luis Suarez and Floyd Mayweather are more celebs who have taken to social media to present cryptocurrency to the world, while others like Gianluca Zambrotta and Martina Hingis contribute to crypto charities helping young athletes find funding. Either way, the market finds strength in the exposure.

Some more interesting examples of celebrities into cryptocurrency, we find actors and singers being bullish. That 70's Show sweetheart, Ashton Kutcher, tweeted about Ethereum in 2014 with a text that followed: "Decentralizing the world … #geekpower #tech". Kutcher also took to international television to gift Ellen Degeneres with a USD 4 million donation in cryptocurrency, Ripple to be specific. Kutcher also contributes to crypto adoption through his investments, having helped fund Unikrn and BitPay, even dropping by the offices for a group photo. Katy Perry also had an interesting way of voicing cryptocurrency to her 200+ million collective followers in a "$---CrYpTo ClAwS---$" post. The post featured a picture of her dollar bill nails and cryptocurrency tokens on top, some of the tokens included were BTC, ETH, LTC, and XMR. Perry is among the top 20 most followed people on Instagram, we can only assume her post sparked a lot of interest from the fiat world and those not familiar with crypto.

More exposure in songs and series

Eminem's recent song, Not Alike, gave mention of crypto in the lyrics "member everybody used to bite nickel, now everybody doing Bitcoin". The lyrics were sung by featuring artist, Royce Da 5'9", and the song has been viewed more than 10 million times on YouTube. Eminem is one of the most influential rappers of this generation, giving his voice a lot of power. Big Bank is another song by leading artists that references crypto, Big Bank is performed by YG, 2 Chainz, Nicki Minaj and Big Sean. Big Sean sings the verse "I might buy her red bottoms with the crypto, three coins, that'll pay ya whole semester." This song is a massive influence considering all the famous names featured. These are just a few examples of mainstream artists incorporating crypto into their music, let's see what series and movies have to say about Bitcoin:

The Simpsons - December 2013. Yellow Subterfuge. Lisa and Krusty the Clown discuss how he lost money on some bad ponies, "worse in the bitcoin markets" and bad investments in bookmark companies;

The Simpsons - November 2014. Clown in the dumps. A billboard featuring James Corky Jones with print saying "Send me your lunch money online - now accepting Bitcoin.";

Parks and Recreations - March 2014. New Slogan. A computer 'expert' helps Leslie out after her online poll has been hijacked, he tells her: "Just PayPal me some Bitcoins when you get the chance."

Big Bang Theory - November 2017. The Bitcoin Entanglement. The whole episode is devoted to the group trying to track down their private keys for their forgotten Bitcoin wallet which is worth millions.

How you can get involved

You don't have to be a celeb to contribute to the cryptocurrency ecosystem, a simple token purchase or share counts. These celebs would've never seen the incentive to buy Bitcoin without us regular people pushing the price and demand up, we are a very intricate and important part of the markets and our transactions matter. We can learn about cryptocurrency projects from celebrities and appreciate their help in spreading adoption, but it is our duty to go out and take advantage of the Bitcoin revolution. Make your mark, buy Bitcoin with Bitvalex.