Gemini’s new HQ in Ireland as part of Euro expansion
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has announced Ireland as its European headquarters amidst regulatory uncertainty in the US.
Adoption abounds in the cryptocurrency industry as franchises of popular pizza corporation Domino’s announce that employees will have the option of getting paid in Bitcoin.
A franchisee of 16 different Domino’s Pizza locations in the Netherlands will be offering the choice of Bitcoin as payment for salaries above the minimum wage in the country. The pizza company will be using BTC Direct as a fiat-to-crypto onramp to handle the payments for any employees that wish to receive their salary in cryptocurrency Behind the news, Immensus co-owner Jonathan Gurevich noted that this is an option driven by innovation and the company opening up more options for young employees:
“We are a modern company, and we work with a lot of young employees. We hear them talking about Bitcoin and we want to offer the opportunity to own cryptocurrency.”
It is required by Dutch regulations that any employee is paid minimum wage in Euro, an amount determined by age and hours worked. Anything over and above the minimum wage can be paid out in Bitcoin, as and if the employees opt for it.
Pizza Day for Bitcoin
Not only does this announcement come as news of greater adoption of the market, but it also marks the anniversary of the first-ever documented transaction of Bitcoin payment. The event saw Bitcoin stand as payment for two Papa John’s pizzas – and it now is marked as “Bitcoin Pizza Day”. Back then, the pizzas cost 10,000 Bitcoin – an amount worth millions now. Now, Bitcoin as a medium of exchange is taken cautiously as crypto bulls tend to save or HODL their tokens.
To bring awareness to the market and make the case for use of crypto, BTC Direct’s Jerrymie Marcus noted that a salary in Bitcoin can bring benefits to employees as they earn in a comparable dollar-to-Bitcoin salary and invest in an asset that has historically seen exponential growth. He said:
“A monthly Bitcoin salary can be compared to dollar cost averaging into Bitcoin. So all the benefits are the same, you don’t have to time the market, and in the long run you cancel out short and mid term volatility. This actually benefits the employee, they save value automatically in an ever-increasing asset.”