Blog Article
Bitwage Helps Remote Workers Get Paid with USDC on Stellar
Author
Ryan Dennis
Publishing date
USDC
Ecosystem
Bitwage
If you've never considered it, there are many benefits to remote working in Argentina. Aside from being a great location to learn Spanish, Argentina is relatively time-zone friendly to the United States and Europe with plenty of exciting companies hiring professionals based in this beautiful country. But let’s not forget the most important part of working remotely – the whole working to get paid part. The simple act of getting paid is where many pain points arise. With over 50,000 registered customers and 2,000 companies, Bitwage creates solutions for remote workers looking to receive their wages in digital assets.
Boasting more than half (55%) of their customers based in Latin America, 20% in the US, 10% in Europe, and 10% in South East Asia, Bitwage knows how to help contractors and remote workers living abroad. As its name suggests, Bitwage is building the best way for professionals to receive their salaries from abroad. Its growth has been remarkable in this endeavor. According to the leadership team, Bitwage’s business has doubled in 2020, and 2021, and is on track to do it again in 2022.
Yet, it's not all about profits for this team. Bitwage wants to help their customers get paid in their own local fiat or local currency, with some of the best rates possible, for their personal accounts. The platform provides a system of freedom for these workers to choose how they get paid. Should someone prefer to settle their paycheck in Brazilian Real, Argentine pesos, or even a different currency with each paycheck, the choice is theirs. Whether via dollars, bitcoin, or fiat currency, Bitwage allows professionals near-instantaneous access to their earnings at the best rate possible. One of the ways to ensure the best rate possible is to lower transaction costs during the off-ramp process. This week, Bitwage made an announcement about the integration of USD Coin (USDC) on Stellar coming to the platform.
Integrating USDC on Stellar
From the outset, Bitwage built businesses to help companies pay their workers in Latin America and the Philippines. These employees were getting paid by traditional bank wire transfers, which are not only slow and expensive but also leave them with no choice but to accept the local currency. There is a lot of inflation and volatility involved in this process.
To mitigate risk, Bitwage users often use USDC as the main output currency. Bitwage processes $80,000,000 USD per year. Over 30% of that value is in USDC. Implementing USDC on Stellar means users who already enjoy trading USDC on Bitwage may now also enjoy near-zero transaction fees. That's right – just fractions of a cent.
"Before using USDC on Stellar, Bitwage customers only had the option of USDC on other chains which can be slow and costly," said Bitwage CEO Jonathan Chester. "The Stellar network provides speed and cost savings with the security of a blockchain that’s been around and trusted for years. At the end of the day, we focus on creating more secure options for people to get paid."
How does Stellar fit in?
At SDF, we seek to empower innovators building real-world blockchain solutions that create financial access for everyone, everywhere. We have been working in step with Bitwage to help provide people access to cheaper and faster transactions.
“This isn’t something new to companies already using Bitwage, yet is probably news for the individuals coming to us,” Chester continues. “It’s not just that we give more flexibility or more money to their workers. We actually reduce the overhead of paying workers because we have this massive pay engine that’s built around compliance for remote workers as well as domestic or contractor workforces.”
Paying workers in Argentina can at times take six months, to the point where employers, contracts, and lawyers feel like giving up. Making compliance quick and easy in one place is an incredible upgrade for employers. According to a business operator based in Argentina, “sometimes they can’t hire local people because they’re not in a place of going through the loopholes of making this happen. Their business would sometimes look for someone in the United States rather than someone in our own country. Bitwage simplifies the entire process for us.”
Empowering the Stellar ecosystem
Let’s explore what Bitwage does to help the rest of the Stellar ecosystem. The value it brings is real-life usage of Stellar: helping people get paid, saving money, supporting their families, and choosing how they want to access their savings. Companies paying remote workforces could benefit from having an offering that not only reduces overhead and saves workers time and money, but contributes to the growth of the Stellar ecosystem.
To learn more about Bitwage, check out https://www.bitwage.com.