Finnish software firm (SC5) offers to pay part of staff’s salary in Bitcoin currency

[phantom power]

Finnish HTML5 software developer SC5 has started providing employees with the option to have a part of their salary paid in the decentralized peer-to-peer currency Bitcoin (via Hacker News).

SC5?s Martti Malmi (who also happens to be a former core developer of the digital Bitcoin currency), blogged about the move:

“We are doing this just out of curiosity to try out new things.

Bitcoin as such fits our vision of the world quite well. It allows for open source development, competition and innovation in the field of payments and Internet commerce. Based on cryptography, it is secure and deterministic as we require for digital services.

As a comparison, credit cards rely on few enough physical cards getting stolen or copied and the centralized organizations covering fraud for billions of dollars each year.”

The company is using Finnish exchange Bittiraha.fi as its Bitcoin service provider, and says it will use the daily exchange rate on payday for currency conversion.

http://thenextweb.com/eu/2013/03/15/finnish-software-company-offers-employees-to-pay-part-of-their-salary-in-bitcoin/

[Demeter]

1. VERY Risky business for firm and employees

Keep us posted, PP!

[phantom power]

3. there's some obvious risk, although...

nobody is discussing getting paid all in bitcoins, and I assume the actual fractions of pay they're proposing are small ones

Also, a good way to further stabilize the currency is for as many individuals as possible to be using it "normally" -- that is, using it as payment, buying and selling things with it, as opposed to people trying to run exotic get-rich-quick currency trading scams.

[DonCoquixote]

2. don;t snicker

because there are people who will pay real money for bitcoins. Why? Beats me, but if you go ahead and pay me $500 dolalrs for a bitcoin like I have seen other do, I could care less.

[AnneD]

4. And so the Revolution begins....

[pscot]

5. How does the state collect taxes

on bit coin transactions? It represents Libertarian Nirvana, but what does it mean for a civil society? International money flows are already uncontrollabe. Bit coinage would blow the doors off.

[phantom power]

6. I assume a state can tax bitcoin income like income in any currency.

Not that I've ever done it, but if I get paid partly in euros, I assume there's a methodology involving exchange rates or something that allows me to pay taxes on it. Bitcoins also have some exchange rate, even if it might be more volatile than some other larger/established currencieshttp://www.eschatonblog.com/