After owning some Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), former NHL player Zach Boychuk said he quickly became addicted to the cryptocurrency market. This led to investing in several altcoins and ultimately the launch of his own cryptocurrency, Boychuk told the hosts of Benzinga’s “Moon or Bust” show.
Getting Involved in Crypto: Boychuk received some Bitcoin from his dad and also saw people talking about cryptocurrency on social media.
Despite having a financial advisor that told him to stay away from crypto, Boychuk said he began investing in the altcoin space over the last three weeks.
“I’m big on Ethereum [and] have lot more Ethereum than Bitcoin,” Boychuk said.
When asked one of the most common questions in crypto — which one will be higher in the future? — Boychuk sees Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) as being worth more than Bitcoin.
One of Boychuk’s early wins was Baby Doge Coin, which he invested in early.
“I put $1,000 in it and now I’m over 60x.”
Boychuk, who told Benzinga he is trying to learn everything about crypto that he can, said that it was “nice to have something like that happen in your first few weeks.”
See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin
Boychuk Launches ZachInu Coin: After promoting several altcoins, Boychuk said he was contacted by a developer to launch his own coin and agreed.
In the first day of trading, the ZachInu coin had a market capitalization of $1.5 million and was trending on several crypto sites.
“For me, it’s more of a meme project,” Boychuk said.
ZachInu is the first athlete meme coin, according to the company’s website.
Plans for ZachInu include growing its Twitter following, promoting the coin on TikTok and hosting “ask-me-anything” events.
NFTs Are Next For Boychuk: Another area Boychuk would like to get involved in is non-fungible tokens.
Boychuk said several athletes are working on NFTs, and he is open to teaming up with others and plans on doing exclusives that could include giveaways to coin holder and NFT owners.
NFTs could also be airdropped to ZachInu coin holders in the future, he said.
Athletes And Crypto: Cryptocurrency has become a popular topic for athletes, according to Boychuk.
“Every locker room that I’m in, there’s five to six guys consistently checking it,” Boychuk said.
Back in 2017, Boychuk saw teammates talking about Bitcoin and trying to find Bitcoin ATMs, but he had no idea about Bitcoin and said he stayed away.
Many athletes started with stocks and are now investing in cryptocurrency, Boychuk said.
While many NFL players are asking to be paid in Bitcoin, Boychuk said he hasn’t seen the same demand from NHL or hockey players.
About Boychuk: Drafted 14th overall in the 2008 NHL Draft, Boychuk played in 127 NHL games. Boychuk played for the Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators.
“I started playing hockey when I was two years old,” Boychuk said.
Boychuk is still playing hockey professional with the 2020-2021 season spent with the Berlin Polar Bears in Germany.
You can follow Zach Boychuk on Twitter and learn more about ZachInu coin here.
Benzinga’s “Moon or Bust” airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 2 p.m. ET.