Vida Global, an AI operating system company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has introduced a system to pay part of employee salaries in bitcoin (BTC). The company does not hold bitcoin directly and keeps its accounting in dollars, drawing attention as a new example of how listed companies use cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Magazine reported on July 30 that Vida Global has begun operating a payment system that allows employees to receive wages in bitcoin by using the platform of bitcoin infrastructure company Voltage and the Lightning Network.

The key to the model is that the company does not hold bitcoin directly or reflect it on its financial statements. Vida Global pays employee wages on a dollar basis, and Voltage converts the amount into bitcoin and delivers it to employees. The company then pays Voltage in dollars at month-end, in the same way it settles payments to ordinary business partners, to complete the accounting.

With this structure, a listed company can meet employees' demand for bitcoin wages without directly buying or holding cryptocurrency. Financial statements also remain dollar-based, which is described as minimising the burden of accounting treatment.

The introduction of bitcoin wages began with requests from overseas employees. Vida Global, which is headquartered in Austin, Texas, operates a global workforce and said Argentine employees in particular wanted to be paid in bitcoin to respond to declines in the value of the local currency.

Vida Global Chief Executive Lyle Pratt (라일 프랫) said, "Voltage handles the bitcoin payment and the company settles in dollars at month-end," adding, "This structure makes it very simple to offer bitcoin wages for both employees and the finance team."

Voltage, which provided the payment infrastructure, also assessed the case as a new model for using a global payroll system. Voltage CEO Graham Krizek (그레이엄 크리젝) said, "There was a gap between AI companies that operate on a global premise and existing payment infrastructure," adding, "Employees can receive the assets they want within seconds, and the finance team does not need to handle cryptocurrency directly."

The Lightning Network was used for bitcoin payments. The Lightning Network is a scaling solution that processes transactions off the bitcoin main chain and was developed to increase transaction speed and lower fees. Because of these characteristics, it is assessed as a technology suited to wage or payment services that require repetitive small payments. The Lightning Network has also been adopted in Cash App and Square point-of-sale terminals in the business group led by Jack Dorsey (잭 도시).

The market is focusing on the case as an example of a listed company using bitcoin as a means of employee compensation without holding it as a financial asset. Attention is on whether it will take hold as a model that can meet payment needs for a global workforce while minimising the accounting burden.