Bitcoin has taken over part of the economy and some have already become millionaires. Wallet or virtual wallet, blockchain, crypto-trader, mining... Don't you understand anything? That's normal. However, it might be time to find out, because tomorrow, you may be paid in cryptocurrencies...
A Japanese company takes the step
Paying employees in bitcoins will soon be a reality in Japan. There, a company decided to pay its employees part of their salary in bitcoins. It must be said that GMO Internet, an IT services company, offers itself a bitcoin exchange platform.
Thus, from March 2018, the company will be able to give its 4000 employees the possibility of receiving a part of their pay in bitcoins, i. e. up to 100,000 yen of their monthly remuneration (which represents approximately 900 dollars). This will be done on a voluntary basis for the beneficiaries.
By using it itself, GMO Internet hopes to improve its own knowledge of crypto, which has been turning economists and investors' heads since 2009: the bitcoin was worth nearly $14,100 per unit at the end of December, compared to less than $1,000 at the beginning of the year.
Some precedents in the United States
In the United States, the Internet Archive company has set up a system allowing its employees to be paid in bitcoins. In April 2013, some employees decided to collect a portion of their pay in crypto. Bitwage is an international payment solution designed to pay for freelancers, providers and remote workers. It uses bitcoin to enable companies to pay their international employees quickly and cheaply. The California start-up founded in 2013 recently integrated Station F, the startup incubator created by Xavier Niel in Halle Freyssinet in Paris, and now has 14,000 users worldwide.