While cryptocurrency can be used for transactions, Parham said Bitcoin was designed primarily as a store of value, with the closest substitute being gold.

“In that sense, what do people use gold for? To hedge against inflation — as a store of value that will not decrease in value,” Parham said. “Bitcoin just does that better, assuming you trust it.”

That said, cryptocurrency does have transactional benefits. Payments that use blockchain technology have no interaction with third parties such as the government, banks or other financial intermediaries. As such, purchases are not taxed, and often have very low transaction fees.

Those features are among the chief reasons Moonlighting is seeking to have its own version of cryptocurrency. The app is anticipating expansion into Latin America, the United Kingdom and Canada next year.

“We wanted to get our freelancers to show up in more marketplaces, and by having the token, we can help people internationally, and remove the currency fees and bank fees that typically eat into commissions and into freelancer’s paychecks,” Tennery said.