The guys who took their paychecks in Crypto feel the burning

Even before the wage pressure, crypto exchange platforms such as Coinbase and Crypto.com have spent the last few years marketing decentralized digital currencies as a sure ticket to financial success. This appealed especially to Bryan, whose annual salary as a chef for a small bar in a small town in Wisconsin is around $ 25,000. “At that time, most of my savings and a small 401K I had from a previous office job had gone into my crypto portfolio,” he says.

So not only did Bryan see Coinbase’s direct deposit program as a way to invest on a regular schedule instead of trying to time the market, but it also allowed him to invest without losing money on the platform’s transaction fees. Since giving Coinbase direct access to his employee’s payment portal, around $ 300 of his bi-weekly paycheck is diverted from his checking account and converted to crypto. “Brother, $ 75 of the $ 600 I spent each month went to fees before, so getting that $ 600 automatically to come from the paycheck seemed like the smart thing to do,” he explains.

Unlike Bryan, Kai Morris, a “blockchain ethicist” who works as a freelance writer and researcher in the blockchain industry, has been paid exclusively in cryptocurrency in recent years. “As someone who works directly in the crypto field, I have found that many customers appreciate the ability to pay in crypto, as it saves them time and also shows them that I take this industry seriously,” says Morris. “So if I work with a new company that has its own coin or token, I choose to accept partial payment in that currency as a sign of respect.”

But for all the good graces and employment benefits that are paid in cryptocurrency, Morris describes a “number of disadvantages and challenges” that undermine his overall financial stability and well-being, including the process itself. “Even if I get paid in crypto, I will usually convert my payslips to fiat so I can easily pay bills, buy food, etc.,” he says. “When I started my career, I was sometimes paid in either Bitcoin or Ethereum, although it stopped around 2020 when gas taxes became too high.”

That is, like Bryan, Morris’ paycheck was burned on the costs of buying, selling, depositing, withdrawing, sending, or receiving certain cryptocurrencies. To avoid this, Morris chose to receive payments in cryptocurrencies that are undoubtedly less established, albeit with lower transaction fees.

Deric, a 30-year-old software engineer in Belgrade, also describes the daunting process of getting paid in crypto. “Usually I get around 30 to 50 percent of my paycheck in Bitcoin,” he says. “Bitcoin is easy and fast to transfer money abroad, and that’s how I send money to my parents in Brazil.” But things get complicated when it comes to paying for things yourself. “I can only pay for my nutritionist and therapist with Bitcoin at the moment, but I pay for my Netflix, Spotify, Steam and Amazon products by buying crypto gift cards and then using these services normally,” he explains. “I would like to pay my rent in crypto, but my landlord is not open to it.”

Morris says his girlfriend has expressed concern about the stress caused by moving money from crypto to fiat. And while he tells me that it’s not as tough as it used to be, he admits that “sometimes there are still times when a crypto-to-fiat exchange keeps my money, or my bank flags my financial activity for being ‘suspicious’. “One of the situations causes ‘serious cash flow problems, which I always have to be clear and prepared for.’

Even when his paychecks are not maintained or flagged by financial institutions, Morris’ income can still be rendered completely worthless by the volatile crypto market. Most notably, in June, Bitcoin’s value fell by 70 percent from its highest level in November, and one of the pillars of the crypto ecosystem, an “algorithmically stable currency” backed one-on-one with the US dollar, completely collapsed. In total, the crypto market lost $ 2 trillion in value.

“A lot of cryptocurrencies fluctuate in price very quickly, so I have to convert it to a stablecoin or fiat money as soon as possible so that I do not incur any losses,” Morris explains. However, this was a particularly difficult attempt when the market crashed. “I agreed to be paid by one company using the token they had developed, and I clearly remember that I hurried to exchange it for a more established stablecoin or fiat when I received it,” he says. “But my transaction got stuck, indefinitely. I had to see my paycheck emptied, and there was nothing I could do to save it.”

Aside from suffering critical financial losses, Morris says working in the blockchain sector has become much more difficult since the June market downturn. “Several companies have had to tighten their belts, which means that it is much more difficult to negotiate prices than to be hired at all,” he says. “Fortunately, I saved my money during the beef market so I do not have to worry too much, and now I accept payment mainly in USDC, a one-to-one US dollar-backed stablecoin that runs on the TRON network, since it has very low fees. ”

As for Bryan, it is that he did not dedicate the entire paycheck to cryptocurrency. “About half of my income in the last four months is worth 30 percent of what it should be,” he says. “It simply came to our notice then. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I should have just put my money in a damn savings account. ”

Recently, Bryan deleted all the cryptocentric apps from his phone, disconnected them from the paychecks and has “buried my head in the sand until all this blows over and the market jumps back,” he says. In the meantime, he has completely fallen, and his ship apparently as far from entering as ever before.

“As the market went, I had hoped that after a year of investing, my bag would have been big enough to buy a car, and maybe even move to my own apartment in Milwaukee,” he apologizes. “Anything would be a step up from wasting almost nothing in this sunset city in the middle of nowhere.”