Crypto VS FIAT Salaries

Cryptocurrency payments are becoming popular in our daily lives. As more and more businesses and vendors start accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment method worldwide, and as cryptocurrencies become the dominant form of donations, it is clear that they have established themselves.

It’s no surprise, then, that some companies offer their employees salaries in cryptocurrencies, even if it’s only a small portion of their pay. Today, we will delve into what crypto salaries are and why, in most cases, they are much more appealing than fiat salaries for employees.

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The Advantages of Crypto Salaries vs. Fiat Money

There are many reasons why cryptocurrencies attract a broad audience, and they offer several advantages compared to traditional fiat currencies.

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Fees

As many people have turned to remote work, some are working with clients from around the world. There is an issue with fiat currencies, where exchange rates can eat into these workers’ earnings. In contrast, cryptocurrencies have much lower fees compared to traditional payment systems, and they can easily be converted into USD later if the employee wishes.

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Speed

When making global payments, they must be processed by one intermediary, sent to another intermediary such as a bank or payment processor, and then delivered to the recipient. Cryptocurrency transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain, for example, generally take about 10 minutes and operate even on weekends. In other words, the blockchain is active 24/7, 365 days a year. That said, there are now cryptocurrencies that are even faster than Bitcoin, which allows for even quicker payments.

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Transparency

Another key reason why cryptocurrencies are preferred over fiat currencies is the level of transparency they offer. The blockchain essentially provides an immutable and transparent record of salary payments that have occurred, protecting both parties in case of disputes. If an employee chooses to hold onto their BTC tokens, they could also see the value of their salary increase over time, especially if the value of the token they received as payment rises.

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Volatility

This is a somewhat mixed reason explaining why cryptocurrencies can be either better or worse in certain cases. The volatility of any cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), means that these assets can experience significant increases or decreases in value depending on market conditions.

So, let’s say an employee receives a monthly salary of $2,000 in BTC on Monday. They might wake up on Tuesday to find that those same BTC tokens are now worth $1,000 or, on a more optimistic note, $3,000. This is why many companies generally offer only a portion of an employee’s salary in cryptocurrency—a percentage they are more comfortable risking, given the inherent volatility of cryptocurrencies.

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Which Companies Pay in Cryptocurrencies?

Many companies have embraced the practice of paying their employees using cryptocurrencies.

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Microsoft

This company embraced Bitcoin early on, starting in 2014 when it began accepting the cryptocurrency as a payment method for games, apps, and other digital content. It also pays its employees in cryptocurrencies.

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PayPal

PayPal also introduced Bitcoin payments as a way to attract new businesses to its platform. The lower transaction fees associated with Bitcoin ultimately gave PayPal the edge it needed, and they successfully implemented it.

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Overstock.com

Overstock is also an early adopter of Bitcoin and is currently partnering with Coinbase to accept BTC payments on its site. Additionally, the retailer has launched a blockchain-focused investment firm called Medici Ventures.

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Travala.com

This is an online travel company that accepts and makes a number of payments in cryptocurrencies. To facilitate this process, it has partnered with Binance Pay and Crypto.com Pay, allowing all its customers to benefit from these exchanges.

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AT&T

This is the first mobile operator to accept and use cryptocurrency payments, a move announced in 2019. However, to facilitate this, they use BitPay, which is a third-party payment processor.

Each of these companies both pays in crypto and allows its customers to pay in crypto for its services as well.

Through this analysis of crypto salaries vs. fiat, we have reviewed all the advantages of paying in cryptocurrencies. If you wish to start accepting cryptocurrency payments at your points of sale, here’s how you can get started!

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