British cryptocurrency exchange CoinCorner has started paying its employees in Bitcoin.

Staff at the company were given the option to receive part or all of their salary in cryptocurrency earlier this year, according to a statement. Each member of staff had the choice to receive the GBP equivalent of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin or XRP - cryptocurrencies currently supported by CoinCorner - to include in their monthly pay packet.

CoinCorner reported that all employees opted to allocate a portion of their salary to Bitcoin, with one employee taking home their full salary each month in the cryptocurrency.

Co-founder and chief executive Danny Scott said: “It’s our belief that Bitcoin is the future of money and our mission is to make it accessible to as many people as possible.

“It’s come full circle now as our team have welcomed the opportunity to have their salary paid in cryptocurrency,” he continued, adding: “We hope to see this set a precedent for how other companies could manage salaries in the long-term and hope that it encourages them to try innovating by offering employees the choice to be paid in Bitcoin."

Last week, New Zealand‘s tax authorities deemed it legal for companies to pay employees in cryptocurrencies.

The country’s Inland Revenue Department did state that companies can only pay cryptocurrency to employees working under official employment agreements, payments also have to be for a fixed amount - “the value of the crypto-asset is pegged to one or more fiat currencies” - while salaries must also be able to be “converted directly into fiat currency (on an exchange)”.

The price of Bitcoin has increased by more than 200 per cent since the beginning of 2019, with validation coming from use cases across established brands like Microsoft and Twitter, and most recently, Facebook’s announcement of its Libra cryptocurrency.

Nicholas Gregory, chief executive of CommerceBlock, commented: “Bitcoin has rediscovered its mojo this year with multiple mini-surges, but a no-deal Brexit could see a massive and unprecedented breakout.

“Not only will a no-deal departure from the EU create turmoil and volatility across two major fiat currencies, it will also trigger an identity crisis for the global system as the contingency and vulnerability of major global fiat currencies is laid bare,” he continued, suggesting that cryptocurrencies could come to replace gold as a safe-haven asset.

“If central banks revert to ramping up the money printing all over again, the case for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin whose supply is capped will be further reinforced – each time a central bank increases the money supply, it’s another nail in the coffin of fiat.”

Share Story: