NYDIG offering allows participating companies to pay employees in Bitcoin

Patrick Sells, the NYDIG’s chief innovation officer, said the Bitcoin payment plan was aimed at letting companies offer a benefits package to prospective employees.

The New York Digital Investment Group, or NYDIG, has launched a benefit program allowing employees of participating companies to convert a portion of their paychecks into Bitcoin.

In a Tuesday announcement, the NYDIG said several firms involved with sports, entertainment and digital currencies would be among the first to offer the crypto payments, including Everbowl, MVB Bank, StretchZone, crypto analytics firm The TIE, crypto mining firm Iris Energy and Fertitta Entertainment — the conglomerate behind restaurant giant Landry’s and the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets. Company employees who participate in NYDIG’s Bitcoin Savings Plan can choose how much of their pay will be converted into Bitcoin (BTC), with no transaction or cold storage fees.

NYDIG chief innovation officer Patrick Sells said the BTC payment plan was aimed at letting companies offer a benefits package to prospective employees interested in “protecting their financial futures.” According to a recent survey conducted by the firm, 36% of workers under 30 said they would be interested in receiving part of their salary in BTC, with roughly 33% opting for an employer offering payment plans in crypto as opposed to those solely in fiat or other benefits.

“Offering cutting edge benefits […] helps ensure that we are appealing to the new generation entering the workforce and allows us to attract and retain some of the best talent in the industry,” said Fertitta Entertainment owner and CEO Tilman Fertitta.

Employees are asking to be #PaidInBitcoin, and we listened. With our new Bitcoin Savings Plan, companies can now offer an innovative compensation perk for employees to securely buy, sell, and hold #Bitcoin without incurring any transaction or storage fees. https://t.co/HLCaQPuwTr pic.twitter.com/raYkWiscLD

— NYDIG (@NYDIG_BTC) February 1, 2022

Coinbase launched a similar offering in September for workers to deposit their salary payments directly to the crypto exchange, only requiring users to set up direct deposits through a supported payroll company on the exchange’s app, or through their company’s human resources department. A number of professional athletes also announced in 2021 that they would be using Strike or Cash App to convert some of their earnings into crypto.