BitWage's hourly pay may completely disrupt the workflow of multinational companies

Baozou Comment : The application field of blockchain technology is infinitely extended. At present, companies such as BitWage have begun to explore the use of blockchain to bring more convenient and secure payroll methods to enterprises. Previously, the blockchain technology research and development we have seen was mostly centered on enterprise-level applications. We all hope that BitWage's project can bring benefits to more ordinary people.

Translation: Annie Xu

When you are alone in a cubicle, the local radio station plays 4/4 tunes and the DJ whispers sweet words, distracting your attention through the airwaves; in other cubicles, people who work are keeping watch on the time, waiting to clock out, and then wandering over to the local ordinary shops to have a drink to vent the boredom of sitting all day, while counting the days to paycheck.

You may not be as radiant at work. You check Facebook and Reddit while sending emails. There are only two days a month that you look forward to the most: payday on the 1st and 15th.

This day often comes too slowly, with long and painful waits in between. You just blindly wait for the extra money in your bank account or the receipt of a check. You think this is good enough. You just need to wait for the payday, then buy new clothes or pay the rent. You still have children to support!

So, you may feel confused, what does blockchain have to do with all this?

"Blockchain" refers to the distributed ledger that some financial technology experts call the perfect way to transmit data; and theorists speculate that the decentralized digital currencies currently on the Internet, such as Bitcoin, are just a type of data. The biggest advantage of Bitcoin is that it can quickly and seamlessly transmit value around the world in the form of data. This means that payments are simplified to the greatest extent. Therefore, payroll will come more easily. Then you will think, my God! Why can't every day be payday?

Many early Bitcoin experts claimed that they would promote world development by establishing an online innovation community called Bitcoin. In fact, Bitcoin has indeed made life simpler for many people. In the early days of Bitcoin, the most popular Bitcoin project was exchange. This became a touchstone for Bitcoin's use.

So now you’re in the blockchain age, sitting and browsing cat-loving communities at work; and then suddenly all ADPs adopt the new technology all at once, and everyone can get paid in real time.

Now, let's do a thought experiment.

For example, your boss may sign a new payroll technology company, and one of the options is hourly or daily payroll, which is possible because of blockchain technology. So, the boss who you may call an asshole tells you that every day is payday from now on, and you can choose any currency token. Then, you will find that you start to support this boss. Because after converting these tokens into domestic currency, you can pay those bills.

Now, there are many ways to make these tokens circulate, depending on the technology. You can distribute them in any form you want, in addition to dollars: airline miles, prepaid accounts, bitcoin, or just give it to a major domestic financial institution. Maybe ACH, or a bank using blockchain technology that can pay daily or hourly. Then, all transactions can be completed within 24 hours. Some of the characteristics of Bitcoin technology may mean that a system cannot do hourly payroll, but it is necessary to conduct such experiments.

When you receive your salary once a week, once every two weeks, or even once a month, you are actually providing an interest-free loan to employers. Blockchain technology allows employees to get their salary as soon as possible, so that they are more motivated to work, because they may be paid hourly in the future. There is no doubt that companies that adopt the above salary payment methods will have more qualified employees.

At present, some companies are exploring blockchain technology for payroll, such as BitWage.