Publicly traded AI operating system Vida Global (NYSE American: VIDA) said it has begun paying employees in bitcoin using… Lightning network – but in a way that the company does not have the leading cryptocurrency on its balance sheet.
The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas He said On Thursday, after a worker in Argentina requested to be paid in Bitcoin, the company contracted with Bitcoin infrastructure company Voltage to conduct the transaction.
But the company doesn’t keep bitcoin on its books: it simply sends the cash through the Voltage platform, employees receive payment in bitcoin, and Vida’s balance sheet remains in dollars.
“Vida has a global team, including team members in Argentina who prefer to be paid in Bitcoin due to challenges with their local currency,” said Lyle Pratt, CEO of Vida.
“The effort facilitates Bitcoin payments, and we settle the balance in USD at the end of the month, just like a standard vendor invoice. It has made offering Bitcoin payments remarkably simple for both our team and our finance operations.”
Pratt added that the setup meets the needs of employees without adding the complexity of encryption to accounting.
Graham Krizek, CEO of Voltage, said it was working to resolve the mismatch between “virtual world” AI companies and the payment rails that had not kept up.
“Their team members get paid in seconds with the money they actually want, and their finance team never handles cryptocurrencies,” he said. “When a public company runs compensation for part of its team on Bitcoin tracks and the records remain boring, that’s the point.”
Lightning is another network that avoids transactions on the main chain, reducing costs and increasing speed – it was originally designed so people could use Bitcoin for everyday purchases.
Bitcoin companies like Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey have since integrated the network into their business, payments platform, Cash App, and their own PoS terminal, Square.
