Bitwage Bitcoin Payroll for the Individual, BP(i), is now live and in a free private beta for customers to test, changing the game for employee payroll. As most all bitcoin users know, bitcoin is difficult to receive even through services like Circle and Coinbase. No matter how smooth the process may look, it’s still a bit more difficult to get your hands on bitcoin than to grab cash from the ATM. To some, it’s just not simple enough.
Also read: Canadian Companies Start Paying Employees In Bitcoin
Some bitcoin users are urging their employers to pay them in bitcoin rather than their country’s national currency to combat the bitcoin exchange headache, but it takes a lot of convincing. First you have to explain bitcoin, and then evangelize it to your employer, assure them it’s legal and even then there’s still the fear of change present in their mind. It’s a conversation that’s difficult to have, leaving most people without the perk of being paid with the currency they choose.
As all things bitcoin, there’s usually a way to circumvent the gatekeeper and use it as you please close on the horizon. Bitwage unveiled their new way for people to get paid in bitcoin without having to win over their employer today, providing another tool to give power back to the people.
“Bitwage allows anyone, regardless of how big or small, Bitcoin-friendly or Bitcoin-hostile their employer is, to be able to receive a Bitcoin wage. If your employer offers direct deposits, there is no need to evangelize the employer about Bitcoin. Just switch to a bank account that happens to be Bitcoin-friendly.”
Bitwage users can convert however much as they want into bitcoin, from 100 percent to one percent of their income.
Last May, Bitwage conducted a survey on 150 different bitcoin-friendly companies, mostly based in the United States. Of that total, 38 companies responded and 18 reported that they would be open to paying employee wages in bitcoin. 10 percent of the surveyed companies already offered bitcoin wages.
The other portion of the surveyed companies elaborated on why they weren’t currently implementing bitcoin payroll. 18 percent replied with a desire to implement the feature for employees in the future, 16 percent were eager to offer the service upon request and one company was worried about tax-related issues.
“The benefits are many on both sides of the spectrum: for employees, it provides a reliable, easy method to be paid, living anywhere in the world, without the need of a bank account,” Bitwage said in their study. “For employers, it helps to obtain and retain high quality talent (who happen to be Bitcoin enthusiasts), reduces part of the payroll headache of paying international employees, and saves both time and money associated with traditional methods of payroll, such as direct deposit.”
Of course, now with Bitwage’s BP(i) feature, worrying about what your employer thinks looks to be a thing of the past. Now anyone, anywhere, can receive a wage in the currency they want to be paid in, making bitcoin easier to get than ever.
Photos courtesy of Bitwage; other image from Shutterstock.
Last modified: June 10, 2020 3:18 PM UTC
