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GMO Internet Inc. (“GMO”) is a Japanese-based tech conglomerate with over 4,700 full-time employees and a market cap of over 200 billion yen.  Since May 2017, the organization has taken steps to enter the cryptocurrency space, including the creation of a cryptocurrency exchange targeted towards institutional investors and retail traders and the formation of a cryptocurrency mining business in Northern Europe.

Recently, GMO released a statement that domestic employees will have the option to receive part of their salary payment in bitcoin.  This announcement is both interesting and important for a multitude of reasons, particularly because Japan is one of the primary players in the cryptocurrency world.  According to jpbitcoin.com, a Japanese website serving as a central hub for cryptocurrency news and information, yen-based bitcoin trades accounted for nearly half of all bitcoin trades in November.  And while Japan’s Finance Minister recently remarked that bitcoin “has not yet proven to be credible enough to become a currency,” Japan’s Financial Services Agency confirmed that that bitcoin can be used as legally accepted payment in the country. 

As cryptocurrencies surge in value and enter mainstream consciousness, an increasing number of employers may consider compensating their employees with bitcoin, ether, or other cryptocurrencies.  While a cryptocurrency compensation scheme may proliferate everyday usage of these currencies and attract tech-savvy labor talent to organizations, it may also put an employer at risk of wage and hour violations, and implicate additional regulatory regimes such as the securities laws.  Although lawsuits on such “crypto-compensation” issues have yet to materialize, employers should stay ahead of the curve by protecting themselves against these potential pitfalls: