Another Crypto Milestone: Japanese Company Offers To Pay Employees In Bitcoin
Content adapted from this Zerohedge.com article : Source
Less than a year after Japan legalized bitcoin as legal tender, part of the country's effort pioneering effort to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework for incorporating - and regulating - digital currencies, one Japanese company is offering employees the option to be paid in bitcoin.
Because what employee wouldn't jump at the opportunity to see their weekly paycheck fluctuate by 30% or more. Though given the digital currency's staggering appreciation so far this year, we imagine most of the company's workers will instead see it as an opportunity to lock in a raise every week.
The company, Internet service provider GMO Internet, plans to offer workers up to 100,000 yen (about $890) per month in the digital currency, according to Russia Today.
"Employees can receive salaries in bitcoin if they want to. We hope to improve our own literacy of virtual currency by actually using it," company spokeswoman Harumi Ishii said.
The company said the offer would be available to nearly 4,000 of its domestically-based employees. As a further enticement, the workers will reportedly get an extra 10% of their salary if they choose to receive it in digital currency.
This detail certainly piqued our interest. Bitcoin is, of course, tremendously volatile. But for the past 18 months, that trend has been mostly one-directional (which isn't to say there haven't been many significant downturns).
While the company has depicted itself as a bitcoin evangelizer, offering employees a 10% bonus - a significant sum spread across 4,000 employers - seems suspiciously generous.
The company said it's interested in promoting bitcoin after joining a trading and exchange business in May and is planning to launch a new cryptocurrency mining operation next year.
"We will operate a next-generation mining center utilizing renewable energy and cutting-edge semiconductor chips in Northern Europe," a representative for GMO said, according to Russia Today.
The firm, which is headquartered in Tokyo, operates over 60 companies in 10 countries. Given the group's size and financial power, the bitcoin salary initiative may potentially boost the mainstream adoption of similar practices worldwide.
While many skeptics argued that bitcoin would never work as a currency (indeed, transactions can sometimes take hours to clear). Segwit 2x, the bitcoin software hard fork that was intended to relieve some of the strain on the bitcoin network, was proposed specifically to remedy this problem.
Earlier this week, we highlighted a listing on real-estate site Redfin.com where the owner of a Miami condo specified that he would only accept payment for the property in bitcoin. Redfin said it was the first time it has observed such a demand on its platform, though twitter users quickly pointed out other examples dating back to 2013.
Given the digital currency's performance this year, bitcoin has firmly broken into the mainstream. And with the Cboe having launched its new bitcoin futures products, firms like GMO will find it easier to hedge their positions. CME Group will launch a suite of similar products next week.
Indeed, two years ago, the notion that a mainstream company would offer employees the option to be paid in bitcoin was almost unthinkable.
But barring a major crash, we imagine this trend will continue.
This post has received gratitude of 1.00 % from @jout
You got a 0.20% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @jout!
Been saying Pay Me Bitcoin for years ♨
Very good post my friend.
now i watch this post dear. i like this coin market new . now resteemed this post @zer0hedge
Interesting. Personally I believe that being paid in Bitcoin is pure madness, because it violates the first rule of this world: do not invest more than what you can afford to lose.
Wages are not a speculative account wich you can use to high-risk investments just like bitcoin. I cannot think to survive and pay daily expense with something that can lose or gain 20% of its value in a day because it hasn't a clear fundamental value.
Of course i can say "well, these bitcoin in 2019 will be $100000 worth each one".. But so you are asking to be payed with a speculative asset that you want to get capital gain.
So, in my opinion, Bitcoin is very nice, for example, to pay productive bonuses or other particular premiums. It has to be something more than what you are needed to survive, and none else.
Consider also that now average bitcoin transation fee is over $20.
So, if you are payed 1000 $ in bitcoin every 30 days, you can't afford to do more than 1000/20 = 50 payments in a month. Not considering the cost of what you are buying - only transation fees.
Well done guys!
You have right! But consider that after the futures went live, a lot of the volatility disappeared, the more instituons involved, the more volatility will lessen in my opinion.
P.S. They dont pay their whole salary in brc, only a fraction. If you want to.
Sincerely, I don't believe. A +10% in 24 hour is not "volatility disappeared". Losses of 2-4% in 20 minutes on many exchanges followed by new price spikes are not "volatility disappeared".
I have an opposite view: futures are not eliminating volatility. It is volatility that is killing the futures. In fact, many banks are blocking customers's access to futures because it is a too high-risk market. Volumes are really low, also because for a traditional operator margin trading on bitcoin seems to be pure madness. Wait and see what happens with Chicago Mercantile Exchange futures...
Yes, I have seen. My comment was a general consideration about the idea of live with bitcoin wages, an idea that is taking place in the minds of a lot of bitcoin-addicted. They are asking "please, force us to go all-in on the most volatile asset of the world"!
Really, really smart move.
I hope that we will see that kind of payments more often in the future!
Thanx you so much my dear friend @zer0hedge for sahring this news.
I wish I was getting paid in bitcoin
Good Decision....
This is exactly what is needed to make regular people pay attention to crypto . It gets attention to know people are being paid in it. More adoption will bring more people in a snowball effect!