Bitwage Payroll for Individuals (BPI) lets employees and freelancers receive their wages in digital currency and has now expanded to Europe.

Released in 2014 in the US, the platform allows its users to receive their wages in their preferred output, including the digital currency bitcoin. BPI is compatible with Intuit, ADP, Bill.com, Gusto, TriNet and other payroll systems and lets users track their funds until the latter are securely received. The transmission period normally does not last longer than two days.

The platform, which has been successful in the US and abroad, is now moving to Europe as its leaders believe the continent presents great opportunities:

“I have spoken first hand with various members of Parliament and the European Commission, and they seem to be taking a much more pro-innovation approach compared to New York,” CoinTelegraph quotes Bitwage’s President Jonathan Chester.

According to Chester, people from all over the world “have been receiving wages from large companies and organizations such as Facebook, Google, GE, Uber, UpWork, the US Navy and the World Health Organization” with the help of Bitwage Payroll for Individuals, which in the European case is likely to reduce the transaction costs both for employers and employees.

What is more, the payment process is chosen by the user alone and will not depend on the preferences of employers and payroll providers:

“Our mission is to bring the value of real-time digital wage payments global. We started this by allowing anyone to receive their wages in Bitcoin without their employer or clients needing to sign up with us,” reads the company’s blog.

Earlier a similar option has been offered by Cashila, a payment services provider that promotes itself as “the bridge between bitcoin and euro.” Cashila added a “Receive money” feature last autumn to let its users convert immediately their wages from euro to bitcoin.

In November 2015, Bitwage was accepted to Orange Silicon Valley’s 12-week accelerator programme, raising US $760,000 in the seed funding round. The money gathered was intended to help the company broaden its outreach.





Maria Rudina