Drake’s $500,000 Bitcoin Bet on NBA Finals Backfires—NHL Stanley Cup Next?

It’s finals time in the United States, with several prominent leagues nearing the pointy end of their season. For many, this can be the most exciting time of the year – especially if your team is represented in the league’s pinnacle contest. For the fiscally irresponsible (or those with the means to be) however, it can be quite a challenging period thanks to some self-inflicted betting wounds.

And that’s exactly what superstar musician Aubrey Graham…sorry, Drake… found out yesterday.

Related: Crypto Trader Nets 25x Profit on Solana-Based Memecoin That’s Exploded Over 1,200% in Three Weeks: On-Chain Data

Drake on the Verge of Losing US$1M

Last week, before the kick-off of the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals (NHL), Drake took to Instagram to boast about a US $500k (AU $750k) bet placed entirely with Bitcoin.

Let’s be real here. Drake is partnered with the betting company Stake and likely makes more than that amount per year due to being their figurehead. Nevertheless, the rapper stood to win $1.37m (AU $2.06m) if his picks of the Dallas Mavericks and Edmonton Oilers got up.

His rationale? 

“Dallas cause I’m a Texan.”

Are Celebrities Returning to Crypto?

As it turns out, rationalising bets worth hundreds of thousands based on where you live (isn’t Drake Canadian?) doesn’t end well.

The Dallas Mavericks were comprehensively beaten by the Boston Celtics yesterday, losing the best-of-seven series one to four. This result came of little surprise to most pundits – except apparently, for Drake.

Naturally, the NHL Finals result appears to be going the same way, with Drake’s selection of the Edmonton Oilers down 1-3 at the time of writing. 

However, it’s worth noting the rapper’s use of crypto for this purpose (while not exactly noble), does suggest that celebrities are re-entering the digital currency world. This tends to coincide with renewed retail involvement, which may be something to look out for in the second half of 2024.