As the world shifts into a new age of work style management, more employees have found the wonders of working from home. Several more have taken the leap and embarked on a new journey, one that involves freelancing. The freelancing community has grown substantially over the last 5 years, with freelancing alone contributing $1 trillion to the US economy in 2019. There’s no denying the wonderful ways of being able to work anywhere, but what about the payment options? According to new research, freelancers are now choosing to be paid in crypto.
Freelancing Before Crypto
Unfortunately the payment options didn’t progress as quickly as the freelance working pool did. Both employees and employers were subject to long waiting periods and costly transfers, often with the outcome being less than they worked for. Aside from the inconveniences, they are also subjected to only one of three payment options: bank transfers, web-based services and remittance platforms. Options like Paypal, Skrill, Western Union and MoneyGram are all available, but they all use the same SWIFT protocol which incurs the same base costs and time to process.
Employers have to weigh up their priorities: cost or speed. Western Union charges are high and take 3 days to settle, and while PayPal offers a relatively speedy option, the fees incurred are significant and do not absorb the exchange rate changes. An option like TransferWise reduces the fees but takes 2 days to settle. Limited options with restricted outcomes.
How Crypto Changed The Game
Enter crypto, a monetary alternative to loosen up the free flowing economic cycle of freelancing. A study conducted by Humans.net, a peer-to-peer job searching platform, revealed that 1 in 3 freelancers are now choosing to be paid in crypto. This significant increase is due to the large increase in mainstream media highlighting the industry, as well as the undeniable advantages that crypto have over fiat. Namely:
Speed
Crypto transactions can take place in anywhere from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours (if the network is heavily congested).
Decentralized
Due to cryptocurrencies’ decentralized nature, transactions are executed from one peer to another eliminating the need for a financial institution or intermediary entity.
Low Cost
Each cryptocurrency operates differently, but the central fee structures will always be less than that of fiat services.
A classic example of all of the above is a transfer Binance conducted. The exchange moved 109,000 BTC (roughly $1.4 billion) into cold storage, costing them just $17 in transfer costs and 8 minutes in time. The large sum of money cost 0.0000012% of the overall transaction in transfer costs, and took under 10 minutes to reach its destination. Crypto is revolutionising both the freelance space as well as the financial systems we have in place.
Oobit offers a one stop shop for any employers or employees not yet in the crypto swing of things. The platform boasts user-friendly interfaces, guides on every action, and incredibly simple and intuitive processes. Users can instantly buy cryptocurrencies with credit or debit cards, easily send a number of cryptocurrencies to each other for minimal costs, as well as load the crypto in question through the Oobit debit card. Oobit also makes use of a military-grade, state of the art wallet storage solution, which users can use to store their funds, whether short or long term, at no additional charge.
Crypto Offers A Better Payment Option, What About Invoicing?
Much like invoicing companies cater to fiat markets, many new companies are offering the same invoicing services for crypto related businesses. These companies can create invoices from scratch, recurring invoices, as well as reminders to pay.
CD Pay
works across both fiat and cryptocurrencies, allowing users to send invoices with expiry dates and even generates QR codes for payments due in Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Zcash (ZEC), and Monero.
Gilded
Popular among businesses and freelancers, Gilded offers a one stop shop for invoicing, requesting payments, storing contacts and even processing ETH and ERC-20 payments. The platform also has an integrated feature where users can convert funds to stablecoins in order to bypass market volatility.
Blockonomics
This peer-to-peer crypto invoicing system allows users to create invoices without an account. Simply drop in the details, your wallet address and the amount needed, and the platform takes care of the rest. The encrypted service ensures that all account information is secure.
Freelancing The Future
It’s no wonder that freelancers are now choosing to be paid in crypto. With faster transaction speeds and lower costs, it’s a much more efficient payment method, and one that will only continue to grow in popularity. With the help of these invoicing companies mentioned above, the industry is becoming more convenient by the day. As employment moves to a more digital age, it seems only right that the payment methods follow.
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Oobit Technologies Pte, 50 Raffles Place #37-00 Singapore Land Tower, Singapore (048623). is a company registered in Singapore (no:201716443G), that has been approved as Appointed Representative of Oobit Technologies OÜ, Harju maakond, Tallinn, Lasnamäe linnaosa, Väike-Paala tn 2, 11415, (no: 14852617 ). Which is authorized and regulated by the FIU (no: FVR001421 and FRK001304).