2 months ago
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Getting paid in cryptocurrencies may sound like a bad idea, but this could be an actually useful feature for international contractors. Remote, the company that lets you hire people and manage contractors all around the world, is introducing crypto payouts on Tuesday.
Companies based in the U.S. can start paying their contractors with stablecoins in 69 countries. For this feature, Remote is partnering with Stripe.
The company only supports USDC for now, a widely used cryptocurrency stablecoin managed by Circle. One USDC is worth one USD at any point in time, which means that companies and contractors are never exposed to the volatility risks incurred by cryptocurrencies.
As a contractor, getting paid in USDC means that payments are fast and can’t get stuck in international transfer limbo. Crypto payouts are sent on the Polygon Network, a Layer-2 chain that uses Ethereum as its base network; many crypto wallets support Polygon transactions.
And of course, it means that contractors get paid in a USD-denominated cryptocurrency. If you live in a country that suffers from money devaluation, being able to hold USDC can increase your purchasing power.
When you need to buy something in your local shop, you can exchange some USDC to your local currency, send the money to your bank account, and keep the rest in your crypto wallet. Some people might even start using a debit card issued by a crypto exchange to seamlessly spend USDC.
When contractors are invited to Remote to create an account, they can decide how they want to get paid: in a local currency on a bank account or in USDC. If they select USDC, they can enter their wallet address and start uploading invoices. When companies approve invoices in their Remote dashboard, Remote creates a payment request for all their contractors and automatically transfers money using the right payout method.
In the future, Remote plans to enable the feature for customers headquartered in other countries and add support for more cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, for those who are crypto maximalists.
Romain Dillet is a Senior Reporter at TechCrunch.
 
 He has written over 3,000 articles on technology and tech startups and has established himself as an influential voice on the European tech scene. He has a deep background in startups, privacy, security, fintech, blockchain, mobile, social and media.
 
 With twelve years of experience at TechCrunch, he’s one of the familiar faces of the tech publication that obsessively covers Silicon Valley and the tech industry. In fact, his career started at TechCrunch when he was 21. Based in Paris, many people in the tech ecosystem consider him as the most knowledgeable tech journalist in town.
 
 Romain likes to spot important startups before anyone else. He was the first person to cover N26, Revolut and DigitalOcean. He has written scoops on large acquisitions from Apple, Microsoft and Snap.
 
 When he’s not writing, Romain is also a developer — he understands how the tech behind the tech works. He also has a deep historical knowledge of the computer industry for the past 50 years. He knows how to connect the dots between innovations and the effect on the fabric of our society.
 
 Romain graduated from Emlyon Business School, a leading French business school specialized in entrepreneurship. He has helped several non-profit organizations, such as StartHer, an organization that promotes education and empowerment of women in technology, and Techfugees, an organization that empowers displaced people with technology.
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