Getting paid in cryptocurrency may sound like a bad idea, but it can actually be a useful feature for international contractors. Remote, a company that lets you hire people and manage contractors from around the world, is introducing cryptocurrency payouts on Tuesday.
U.S.-based companies can pay contractors in 69 countries with stablecoins. For this feature, Remote is partnering with Stripe.
The company currently only supports USDC, a widely used cryptocurrency stablecoin managed by Circle. One USDC is worth one dollar at any point in time. This means that companies and contractors are not exposed to the volatility risk posed by cryptocurrencies.
As a contractor, getting paid in USDC means you get paid quickly and don’t get stuck on international transfers. Cryptocurrency payouts are transmitted on the Polygon Network, a layer 2 chain that uses Ethereum as its underlying network. Many cryptocurrency wallets support Polygon transactions.
And of course, this means that contractors get paid in USD-denominated cryptocurrency. If you live in a country struggling with currency devaluation, holding USDC can increase your purchasing power.
When you need to buy something at a local store, you can exchange some USDC for your local currency, send the money to your bank account, and keep the rest in your cryptocurrency wallet. Some people may even start using debit cards issued by cryptocurrency exchanges to seamlessly use USDC.
Once a contractor is remotely invited to create an account, they can decide how they would like to receive payment: the local currency of their bank account or USDC. Once you select USDC, you can enter your wallet address and start uploading your invoice. When your company approves an invoice in your remote dashboard, Remote creates a payment request for all contractors and automatically transfers the money using the correct payment method.
In the future, Remote plans to enable this feature for customers based in other countries and add support for more cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum for cryptocurrency maximalists.
