Blake Davies August 21, 2017
Cryptocurrencies have been around for quite some time now, having takenover the internet by storm. Regardless of these currencies’ ups and downs, they havealready persevered the test of time and made theirway into the lives of people all over the world. Whom in particular, you may ask? Freelancers. Whether giving out a job or looking for one online, chances are you’re going to connect withsomeone from abroad or working remotely. Hiring a freelancer or doing freelance work has always carried its risks, at least until bitcoin came along, pushing nationalmoney aside and ushering in a new age for internet workerseverywhere.
Unregulated transactions
One of the major benefits of using cryptocurrency is the absence of middlemen like banks. With these leeches out of the way, transactions are left to be handled between the two parties involved, reducing payment delays, bank conversion rates and the usual stress that arises generally any time a bank is involved. There are even methods to use bitcoin anonymously, if staying incognito is more your style. Authorizing these transactions is as simple as sending an email and requires even less effort to set up. It is worth noting that regularly sweeping money from your Bitcoin wallet is recommended to avoid future headaches.
Safer exchanges
Cryptocurrency brings a new form of safety when seeking payment and dispensing salaries. Using methods like Multi-Signature Escrow and Double Deposit Escrow, cryptocurrencies guarantee a form of safety that greatly surpasses anything that came before. The first method uses an objective third party that has to authorize the exchange of services if the parties cannot agree, effectively utilizingan arbiter as a safety net should the parties disagree on something. The latter uses the users’ own money as incentive to conduct business in an orderly fashion. Both parties make deposits that they can only get back by completing the contract; otherwise they both lose out.
Risk-free freelancers
With the security measures mentioned above, the main problems with employing freelancers are thingsof the past. Companies can now take on most workers, wherever they may come from, without the majority of risks associated with outsourcing like chargeback fraud. This has opened up many more job positions, but also greatly expanded the available talent pool that employers comb through. The absence of risk enables the hiring of many a talented individual that would’ve otherwise be turned down due to his or her location, preferred bank, or negative experiences with other people in the field.
New work environments
With the rise of bitcoin, new work environments have popped up everywhere. Sites like Cryptogrind and XBTFreelancer have taken the freelancing world by storm, offering a safe platform for transactions to take place. The beauty of these sites is that they implement a set of rules that both parties have to follow while making exchanges more beneficial to everyone involved. One such example is XBT’s milestone mechanic where freelancers are incentivized to complete milestones. Reaching eachmilestone producesa portionof the fee while employers are given an opportunity to provide real-time feedback as opposed to having to correct a finished product.
Complete transparency
One of the things that many companies tend to do is neglect their books and run into the problem of trying to guess what happened where. Using cryptocurrency provides a very safe and easy-to-use system that tracks every single transaction that has ever taken place. This provides both an in-depth look into the company’s day-to-day operations and an option to efficiently track sales numbers. This is especially useful for companies in areas like software development and web design, where the majority of transactions are conducted online.
The world is your oyster
Simply put, cryptocurrency has breathed new life into freelancing. It has provided a secure option for allparties involved in business online and helped the freelance market flourish. While its future is still anyone’s guess, cryptocurrency currently offers benefits that can only be dreamed of in today’s old economies. So, for the time being at least, the option to process payments directly and in a much faster fashion cannot be ignored. With their stability, reliability and flexibility, the various forms of cryptocoins are worth dabbling in to realizejust what possibilities they have to offer.
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The writer of this post is a guest. Opinions in the article are solely of the writer and do not reflect The Merkle's view.
