Bitcoin News

Story: Vida Global Adopts Bitcoin Payroll via Lightning Network Without Holding Crypto

By Bruce Buterin

1 / 15

Lyle Pratt and Graham Krizek Explain the Setup. Lyle Pratt, CEO of Vida Global, says the goal was simple: to meet the team's needs without…

2 / 15

The Lightning Network: Beyond Just Coffee. The Lightning Network was designed to divert transactions from Bitcoin's main chain.

3 / 15

Vida Global has discovered a way to pay its employees in Bitcoin without ever holding a single satoshi in its accounts.

4 / 15

It all started with a simple request. An employee based in Argentina wanted to be paid in Bitcoin. Not in dollars, not in pesos, but in Bitcoin.

5 / 15

Graham Krizek, CEO of Voltage, goes further. According to him, the teams are paid in seconds, and Vida's financial team "never needs to touch Bitcoin.

6 / 15

And that's probably the real pitch for other listed companies watching from afar.

7 / 15

The Lightning Network was designed to divert transactions from Bitcoin's main chain. The basic idea: reduce fees, speed up confirmations, and make Bitcoin usable for everyday…

8 / 15

Jack Dorsey was one of the first big names to bet on it. Cash App integrates the Lightning Network. Square's point-of-sale terminals do too.

9 / 15

Related topic: Gumi and SBI launch a 3 billion yen crypto fund targeting Bitcoin and major altcoins

10 / 15

But a NYSE-listed company using it for employee payroll is something else. It's not a test; it's an operational process. And it changes the narrative around this technology.

11 / 15

Vida Global is not a crypto startup. It's a company listed on the NYSE. That matters.

12 / 15

The Argentine context plays a clear role in all this. Argentina is experiencing prolonged economic turbulence, and the peso doesn't offer much stability for workers wanting to…

13 / 15

Voltage's setup allows Vida to never directly handle crypto. The company sends dollars, the platform does the conversion, and the employee receives Bitcoin.

14 / 15

It's probably this model—no Bitcoin on the balance sheet, but Bitcoin for employees—that will interest HR and CFOs of other listed companies.

15 / 15

Related reading: The U.S. Treasury sanctions HormuzSafe for a maritime insurance system linked to Bitcoin

The Currency Analytics

Want the full story?