The GMO Internet Group, the largest internet service provider in Japan, will begin offering a bitcoin salary option for its employees early next year.
Come March of 2018, the whole of GMO’s 4,700+ employees will be able to receive a portion of their monthly payout in bitcoin. Initially, the salary option will only be available to GMO Internet Co. Ltd. employees, but the company plans to gradually expand the option to include employees from GMO’s subsidiaries. Each employee will be held to a standard minimum of 10,000 JPY (~$81) and standard maximum of 100,000 JPY (~$881) for each pay period.
According to GMO’s online press release, the company believes that cryptocurrencies present “new possibilities for removing ‘barriers to money’” that will reform economic and financial infrastructure in the future.
One of Crypto’s Biggest Enterprise Proponents
GMO has long since been one of crypto’s strongest business allies, and this announcement further conveys the company’s dedication to normalizing cryptocurrencies for both public and corporate use.
Back in May 2017, GMO launched Z.com Coin, a service that provides cryptocurrency FX and cryptocurrency trading. The FX component allows users to engage in bitcoin margin trading, while the trading feature functions like typical cryptocurrency exchanges with JPY trading pairs.
In October, the company also announced that it will establish its own mining business. GMO plans to develop 7nm, 5nm, and even 3.5nm mining chips to improve mining software and make crytpocurrency mining more energy efficient. The project will also spearhead a renewable energy mining centre in Northern Europe. The company intends to launch an ICO in 2018 to cover start-up costs.
By offering a bitcoin salary option, GMO continues to prove that it is ahead of the curve when it comes to blockchain business integration and real-world adoption. With this new initiative, GMO hopes it will “strengthen [its] approaches to virtual currency,” believing that “it is important for partners (employees) to actively touch virtual currency first by improving virtual currency literacy.”
