Bitwage allows companies to pay crypto salaries via new partnership

Crypto payroll startup Bitwage has announced that it will now enable companies to fund payrolls with cryptocurrencies through its partnership with Simply Efficient HR, a Texas-based Payroll & HR company.

In an online post dated January 16, Bitwage said that it has been working with Paxful and Aragon for the past year to accept cryptocurrency and help them pay out various local currencies around the world.

The partnership with Simply Efficient HR will enable companies, for the first time, to pay W2 Employees and Payroll taxes in all 50 US states plus Puerto Rico funded in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), it said. Employees will be able to choose any percentage of their wage to be in USD or cryptocurrency.

Bitwage Founder and President Jonathan Chester said that the partnership has been live in Beta since November 2018 with its first customer, Paxful, a peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace.

“Today represents the official launch out of beta for this solution,” Chester said.

Speaking with Bitcoin Magazine, Chester explained that Bitwage currently does not include the option for companies to pay out in ETH, just pay in.

“However, now companies such as ICOs [initial coin offerings] and decentralized applications with a lot of ether can hire people as W2 employees/offer benefits and stay in compliance,” he said.

Hayel Abbassi, Paxful Controller, said that as Paxful earns 100% of revenue in bitcoin, it is always looking for service providers who will accept digital currency.

“Paxful has a significantly sized team in the states and we need to pay them as employees on payroll, not as contractors. Bitwage has recently formed a partnership with a traditional payroll company who integrates into their platform to provide these services. Paxful simply sends bitcoin to an address, and our employees receive net checks with the proper federal and state taxes withheld,” Abbassi added.

In addition to funding payroll, US companies will also be able to pay for benefits, such as health insurance, as well as HR compliance services. Companies will also be able to fund with their crypto holdings to pay local vendors in the US, Eurozone, UK, Brazil, Philippines, India, Mexico, Argentina and more.

“While the partnership is for U.S.-based payroll, tax, hr, benefits, we can also pay fiat to freelancers and vendors internationally,” said Chester.