Gig Workers Embrace Digital Payments

Workers earning through digital apps on their own schedules, known as gig or sharing economy workers, lead vastly different lives than traditional employees. And soon, they might not even earn the same kind of money.

Companies Building Crypto Payment Platforms

A growing number of forward-thinking firms are designing cryptocurrency-based payroll platforms tailored for gig workers, aiming to create a more fair, efficient, and transparent payment system. In essence, the sharing economy may serve as the testing ground for digital token paychecks.

Can Gig Workers Trust Crypto for Pay?

Convincing freelancers to rely on the volatile crypto space isn’t easy. Selva Ozelli, a CPA specializing in cryptocurrencies, warns that:

“Payments using cryptocurrency made to independent contractors are taxable.”

Beyond volatility, workers still undergo:

  • Conversion fees when converting crypto to fiat,
  • Capital gains taxes—since the IRS treats digital currency as property—and
  • Income tax, based on USD value at receipt.

Lancaster adds:

“A taxpayer who receives cryptocurrency as payment… must include the fair market value … as of the date that the cryptocurrency was received.” (Selva Ozelli)

Employers also face hurdles: contractors paid in crypto require IRS Form 1099 reporting in USD, not Bitcoin.

Volatility and Tax Challenges

Niam Yaraghi of UConn’s business school highlights the risk:

“If I say… one‑tenth of a bitcoin on office supplies… how much will I be spending next year in bitcoin? … It’s very, very dangerous.”

Blockchain’s Transparency and Speed Advantages

Still, advocates like Saif Benjaafar from the University of Minnesota say blockchain and crypto could revolutionize peer‑to‑peer payments:

“Technology … could in principle take…the platform out of the business of payment processing… enable peer‑to‑peer payments… a win‑win for workers and the platforms.”

Real-World Freelance Payment Bottlenecks

A Freelancer’s Union survey found that half of freelancers in 2014 faced late or missing payments, with wait times approaching 100 days. With the sharing economy expected to grow from $14 billion in 2014 to $335 billion by 2025, these delays could become more widespread .

Platform Solutions in Practice

Bitwage + Uphold Enable Crypto Payroll

Platforms like Bitwage and Uphold already let workers receive portions of paychecks in cryptocurrencies, facilitating faster and more global payments.

Robin O’Connell from Uphold highlights:

“Cryptocurrencies have become an equalizer for a lot of these individuals.”

Tiny Tasks, Crypto Rewards

Upcoming apps like Latium allow users to complete micro‑tasks—such as dog walking or deliveries—and earn cryptocurrencies instantly.

New Crypto-Driven Platforms

New initiatives include Ujo (an Ethereum-based music marketplace) and Pangea (enabling shared real estate ownership via blockchain), signaling broader applications of crypto in gig workflows .

Who’s Most Suited for Crypto Pay?

Arun Sundararajan, author of The Sharing Economy, says:

“Gig economy workers are more temperamentally suited for the volatility of cryptocurrencies.”

However, he adds that mainstream crypto-based paychecks, fully decentralized and government-free—might take a generation to gain traction.