Employers Can Now Pay Salaries in Ether Via Crypto Startup Bitwage

Employers can now pay their workers' salaries in ether through crypto payroll startup Bitwage.

AccessTimeIconJun 10, 2019 at 2:25 p.m. UTC
Updated Dec 12, 2022 at 1:52 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Bitwage, a startup that helps companies pay their employees in cryptocurrency, has added ether as a payroll option.

Announced Monday, companies that want to offer tax and HR-compliant ether benefits can sign up to offer it as a benefit to employees.

The company has been providing direct deposits of bitcoin since 2014, and serves over 30,000 workers. Employees, freelancers and independent contractors can receive from their clients or employers any percentage of their fiat obligations due to them in crypto.

The company has experimented with the ethereum ecosystem since 2017, including launching the consulting services firm Inwage, which built several projects on the second-largest blockchain. This includes the Moria initial coin offering, which raised $50 million, and a pilot project for a major insurance company that leverages ethereum for audit trail capabilities. 

But adding ether to Bitwage's main offering "took a lot of behind the scenes work... because the whole system was optimized for BTC," a company representative told CoinDesk. "It's just a matter of now having gotten the infrastructure to add it." 

When Bitwage was founded five years ago, CEO Johnathan Chester realized that merchants were already accepting bitcoin, but there was no way for employees to get paid in it as well.

“Our goal was to close the financial loop,” Chester said in a statement. The company currently processes $2.5 million in monthly volume for contractors and full-time employees.

Bitwage provides two payment services, direct deposit – in which employees have part of their salaries sent to the company to be exchanged for crypto automatically through dollar cost averaging – as well as team wages, where Bitwage provides companywide payroll services. Team wage contracts are primarily provided for companies that may want to pay hundreds of contract employees spread across the globe with just one payment, the representative said.

Though the company makes a spread on the exchange, there is no fee for the basic service. There is also a premium version, which provides payments sooner and costs $15.99 per month.

Square offers a similar service where an employee’s direct deposit goes to the payments platform, but the employee has to manually swap it for bitcoin. Coinbase allows automatic monthly purchases of crypto out of a customer's bank account.

Several blue-chip companies have employees that use Bitwage to automatically convert their cash salaries into crypto including Amazon, Google, and Apple. Additionally, many gig workers for Uber, Caviar, and Doordash utilize the services, according to the representative.

Bitwage clients can have up to two payments distributions per pay period in either fiat or crypto as a non-premium user, or three for premium. 

The company has received around $1 million in total funding from such investors as Draper Associates, Candela Reach Capital, and BPI France.

Check image via ShutterStock

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


Read more about