How to Receive Your Salary in Crypto and Spend It Instantly ∙ Kolo

The shift towards remote and decentralized workforces is making borderless payment solutions more popular than ever. Conventional cross-border remittances are frequently slow, costly, and can cause problems with currency conversions. On the other hand, crypto payroll takes advantage of blockchain to provide instant payments, eliminate intermediary fees, and streamline compliance for distributed teams.

By providing crypto as a payment choice, employers can not only differentiate themselves in the war for talent but also future-proof their global payroll strategy. So, here we consider in detail the tools for paying employees in cryptocurrency, as well as the pros and cons of getting paid in crypto.

Key Takeaways

Remote employees, freelancers, and other professionals can receive a salary in crypto.
Cryptos make international payments fast, low-cost, and anonymous.
Platforms such as Bitwage, Coin Salary, and Cryptogrind assist with making crypto payments possible.
Crypto cards enable digital asset holders to pay with their crypto for everyday spending.

Getting Paid in Crypto

When you get paid in crypto, it means you get digital currencies instead of fiat money. The model is becoming popular with:

Freelancers who enjoy lower fees, along with faster transactions.
Remote employees, especially those who work with international clients.
The students or learners who earn crypto by educational sites such as Coin Salary, which pays for engagement with digital assets.

Pros and Cons

Getting paid in cryptocurrency has never been easier, however, it has both benefits and drawbacks. Here’s a quick overview:


Pros	Cons
Decentralized and international payments. Crypto payments aren’t controlled by a central body, allowing for frictionless, cross-border transactions with zero fees for conversion. Potential for value growth. Unlike fiat money, which can lose its value over time, cryptocurrencies can gain value. Keeping your pay in the cult currency can pay off if prices rise, after all. Lower Fees. The fees are typically lower for crypto transfers than for bank or wire transfers, particularly for international payments.	Price volatility. Cryptocurrency values are very volatile, so your earnings can vary, even during a day. This creates more unpredictability around budgeting and saving. Regulatory uncertainty. Your payment platform and crypto card issuer company can be registered in jurisdictions where crypto laws can change. So, the way you receive, report, or use your crypto income may be affected by new tax laws or limitations. Limited spending options. Although adoption is increasing, some merchants do not accept the cryptocurrency. If you want to spend your crypto on everyday purchases, you might need to convert it to fiat and pay fees, both of which are less than convenient.

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Now let’s consider the platforms allowing to receive crypto payments.

Platforms to Receive Crypto Payments

If you want to get paid in cryptocurrency, choosing the right service is your first step. Here are some of the most popular crypto payment platforms enabling the receipt of digital assets:

Bitwage

Bitwage is a service that allows freelancers and employees to receive their wages in cryptocurrencies. It takes the hassle out of the equation by allowing direct deposits to a crypto wallet. No matter if you’re earning a salary or working on a freelance basis, Bitwage ensures that you can receive digital money without any trouble.

Coin Salary

Coin Salary pays you in cryptocurrency for learning educational stuff (like doing surveys, tutorials, and learning modules on crypto). It’s an original way to study and earn crypto at the same time, for those who are willing to broaden their knowledge of digital assets and get paid in Bitcoin or other coins.

Cryptogrind

Cryptogrind is a freelance platform that brings together skilled fellows with Bitcoin-paying clients. If you’re a designer, developer, writer, or marketer, you can use this service to showcase what you can do, and then be paid with crypto instead, making it an excellent site for freelancing where you can even begin the process of integrating cryptocurrency into your earning stream.

Ruul

Ruul makes it convenient to accept crypto payments for any freelancer, particularly if you work with international clients and/or are comfortable with receiving crypto. It provides automatic conversion from crypto to fiat, reducing volatility in the market and protecting the value of your earnings.

Spending Crypto Instantly

At a time when the gig economy is taking shape and digital currencies are catching on, a greater number of people are opting to be paid in crypto. This provides significant advantages for freelancers; they are now able to work with a worldwide base of clients, can save on transaction costs, and receive their payment quickly. So, let us consider how to get paid in cryptocurrency and how to get the most out of this growing payment method.

Crypto Debit Cards Overview

The crypto cards allow the use of crypto in daily transactions. Generally offered by crypto exchanges or financial institutions, they enable you to make purchases and withdraw fiat currency with your crypto balance.

These cards change the way how to spend crypto, eliminating the need to convert your crypto into fiat each time you want to make a purchase. Just like traditional bank cards, they can be debit, credit, and prepaid.

KOLO Crypto Card

The KOLO Crypto Card is a Mastercard-backed payment tool that allows users to pay for goods with cryptocurrencies, including top memecoins PEPE and Notcoin. There is no need for crypto to fiat conversion; this card makes it automatic. KOLO card is compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay, which makes it easy to use your phone for payments.

KOLO is linked to a hybrid crypto wallet that allows both custodial and non-custodial storage capabilities, allowing users to have more control in handling their cryptocurrencies. Currently, the KOLO card is available for EEA and Ukraine residents, and we are looking to launch it in more regions soon.

Nexo Card

The Nexo card is the first ever Mastercard-backed card that enables cryptocurrency holders to spend the value of their assets without actually spending them and selling them. It offers both PoS and Credit modes for enriched financial freedom.

The card enables dual spending modes, Spend Out and Credit Mode. As of 2025, the card is available in the EEA, the UK, the USA, and Switzerland.

MetaMask Card

The MetaMask Card is a non-custodial crypto debit card that allows you to spend your digital assets directly from your MetaMask wallet at any merchant that accepts Mastercard. Launched in collaboration with Mastercard and Baanx, the card is designed to be independent from intermediaries, providing a smooth link between the world of decentralized finance (DeFi) and the world of everyday spending.

This crypto debit card is compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and its tap-to-pay feature. The MetaMask Card is currently available to users in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK, and the US.

Gnosis Pay Card

The Gnosis Pay Card is a non-custodial Visa debit crypto card that allows users to spend cryptos straight from their blockchain wallet at any Visa-accepting retailer. This card is connected with a Safe smart contract wallet through the Gnosis Chain, so that users can stay in control of their funds, without any intermediaries involved.

A great option for freelancer crypto payments, the Gnosis Pay Card is now available for residents of 32 European countries and the UK. The company plans to extend this to the United States, Brazil, India, and other places in the future.

Coinbase Card

The Coinbase Card is a Visa debit card that they provide, which allows any Coinbase user in the UK to spend crypto instantly, wherever Visa is accepted. The card integrates crypto in day-to-day purchases and gives the user the flexibility to choose if they want to spend Cryptocurrency or fiat currency at the point of sale.

The card can be ordered in the USA, the UK, and the EEA.

The Legal and Tax Considerations

The legal environment for crypto payments is highly inconsistent based on jurisdiction, making things complicated for global employers.

There are differing regulatory models being adopted around the world. El Salvador, for instance, has declared Bitcoin legal tender, while China and Egypt have outright bans on its use. In more accommodating crypto jurisdictions, the labor laws typically force a company to pay staff in fiat if only for their base salary. In these scenarios, third-party platforms can help convert wages to crypto on the backend after an initial payroll process occurs. And yet, the ebb and flow of cryptocurrencies is still a primary barrier, as the possible devaluation that can be experienced unintentionally minimizes employee compensation lower than the legal minimum.

With all that in mind, employers offering crypto payment jobs should work with tax and legal advisers to make sure they remain on the right side of the rules. Thus, it is important to conduct comprehensive due diligence, which will help to reduce your legal risk in a climate where regulations are still developing.

Conclusion

Platforms for receiving crypto payments and crypto cards are convenient, secure tools to receive, spend, and manage your digital currency. They have an array of benefits for users, including convenience, improved security, as well as cashback rewards, staking rewards, and packaged subscriptions.

But picking the right platform and crypto salary card requires careful consideration of factors such as comfort with regulation, effects on taxes, custody, and flexibility. Therefore, conduct your research before picking the exact platform or crypto card that suits your goals and intentions.