Argo Blockchain CEO Becomes First Public Company Executive to Be Paid in Bitcoin

On Wednesday, British cryptocurrency mining company Argo Blockchain revealed that its CEO Peter Wall is now the first executive of a public company to be paid his entire salary in Bitcoin.

In its February operating update, Argo (listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ARB) said that starting Monday, Wall began receiving his salary in cryptocurrency, and “any other Argo team member may choose to receive part or all of his salary in bitcoin.”

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Wall said this was an unremarkable decision for Argo, which mined 129 bitcoins last month and currently has 599 bitcoins.

“I actually wake up in the middle of the night and ask myself, ‘Why am I getting paid in fiat?’” Wall said. “Why don’t we start paying people in Bitcoin?”

Wall pointed to NFL player Russell Okung as another inspiration. Late last year, some media reported that Okung was paid part of his salary in Bitcoin; in fact, he was using a service to convert his salary.

Argo, by contrast, is actually paying Wall in bitcoin directly from the company’s coffers. Wall reported “strong interest” from employees, who he expects will be “particularly receptive” to the offer. Employee salaries will continue to be denominated in fiat, with conversion rates calculated using Satstreet’s exchange rate.

Employees aren’t the only ones interested. Wall joked that some shareholders have inquired about using bitcoin for dividend payments — which could be a difficult legal hurdle to overcome — and he said some other company leaders have welcomed the move.

Wall said Bitcoin is an ideal way to receive at least part of your salary, given its utility as a store of value and its scarcity.

“The way people are paid is evolving and we’re happy to be at the forefront of driving that,” he said.

He expects other companies — even giants like Google — to offer cryptocurrency salary options to employees “within three to five years.”

“In the long term, there is no doubt that we will use cryptocurrencies for all transactions in our daily lives.”