How Does Investing in Crypto Help Elevate the Gig Economy?

If there’s one key takeaway from recent gig economy statistics, it’s that times aren’t just changing — they already have. We’re witnessing a massive shift from traditional, full-time employment to piecing together an income from different sources wherein you can work when you want, not when your boss tells you to.

This sector of the economy has proliferated at a rate of 33% in the past decade, and workers worldwide are now reaping the numerous benefits of the gig economy. As each day passes, the number of opportunities that await them continues to increase, including those coming from the blockchain industry.

Similar to the gig economy, cryptocurrency has seen tremendous growth, both in value and public awareness. From about $1 ten years ago, the value of one bitcoin has soared to at least $40,000 in 2021. As the gig industry continues to rise, the adoption of certain innovations, such as investing in crypto, could deliver a significant boost.

Investing in cryptocurrency holds various potential benefits for gig workers, including the following:

Investment Option in Lieu of Regular Work Benefits

As independent contractors, gig workers usually don’t receive similar benefits that traditional employees get. No paid time off, paid education, pension, health insurance, and the like. Nevertheless, the gig economy keeps on growing since most workers feel that the benefits their jobs provide far outweigh the downsides. For instance, they can make their own schedules and accomplish their tasks almost anywhere.

Cryptocurrencies fit such flexibility. Crypto built using blockchain technology allows gig workers to develop investment strategies without the need for financial institutions, such as banks and expensive brokerages. Tools and data that were only available to fund managers and major banks before are now available to everybody, regardless of their account balance. For example, blockchain-based companies allow anyone to make their own automated index fund.

As for time off, gig working offers tremendous help with time efficiency. Workers can accomplish their tasks on their own time, even while on vacation if needed, and establish their leave and personal time in the process.

Finally, avenues for earning passive income, such as staking coins, are now available with cryptocurrencies. This type of income can pave the way for regular time away from work for gig workers.

Streamlined Payment Transactions

As we mentioned, one of the fascinating aspects of using cryptocurrency is that it makes middle entities in financial transactions, such as banks, unnecessary. With them removed from the equation, payment and other transactions are vastly simplified and are now handled exclusively by the parties involved. As a result, financial processes are now more streamlined, and payment delays are effectively minimized.

Blockchain-based cryptocurrency marketplaces become particularly appealing to gig workers in this scenario. Cryptocurrency allows them to bypass existing banking infrastructure, resulting in accelerated payments and reduced costs. While banks and other more traditional payment services charge fees for currency exchange rates and may take several working days, crypto can get them paid within minutes, without additional fees.

Increased Transaction Security

Another benefit of cryptocurrency to the gig economy is the new level of security it brings to sending and receiving payments. Although the volatile nature of cryptocurrency values can cause other people to feel wary, certain methods like trustless smart contract escrows mitigate all sorts of potential risks.

These methods and systems are in place to ensure that both parties involved are paying or getting paid the agreed-upon amount. For example, cryptocurrencies can be transferred into decentralized tokens applicable to a specific platform. They are then placed in escrow, where they will remain static for the entire transaction duration.

Thanks to these systems, both parties can always guarantee that whatever amount was put in will be the amount that’ll go out, and nobody will be left to deal with the short end of the stick.

Full Transparency

Gig economy marketplaces that utilize cryptocurrency to support their user base employ full transparency on the platform. Transparency entails that every single transaction, review, and interaction is visible to all users, making dishonest or even manipulative practices such as made-up reviews a thing of the past.

Cryptocurrencies have indeed breathed a new life and contributed to the successful revamp of the gig economy by providing all parties with a safe, secure, and transparent avenue to conduct business from anywhere.

Job Security and Economic Stability

Lack of job security and the anxiety that goes with it are just some of the concerns that keep gig workers up at night. They’re essentially bound to the companies that oversee their employment without any real say over their tenure. To counter job volatility, many opt to generate multiple streams of work income.

Gig economy marketplaces can serve as a platform for interested individuals to dip their toes into cryptocurrency without diving in entirely and with minimal risk to their lifestyle and finances. These platforms also provide an additional source of income to supplement gig workers’ wages from their workplaces.

While investing in cryptocurrency can be volatile and also put workers at risk, several factors help alleviate such problems. For one, crypto investing is available to everyone, anytime, anywhere. Therefore, gig workers from all over have more options to find work and build wealth simultaneously. Additionally, since gig workers are familiar, if not accustomed, to the volatility, they’re highly adaptable and perfectly suited for fast-paced industries like cryptocurrency.

Economic stability becomes second nature to gig workers as they become increasingly proficient at what they do. It surely helps that there’s always something new to learn in the blockchain industry, as it ensures a lengthy career in an industry oozing with potential.

Key Takeaways

Gig workers already own a considerable share of the economy’s frontier. Most of them found their way into the industry because they value autonomy and flexibility — key attributes also associated with cryptocurrency. It doesn’t come as a total surprise then that gig economy workers opt to invest in digital finance or get paid partially or fully in Ethereum, bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies.

The gig economy fits in nicely with crypto investments and the blockchain revolution and is even producing new jobs, from operations and marketing to graphic design and blockchain development. However, creating new jobs is merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Investing in cryptocurrency benefits gig workers by helping them get paid more fairly and efficiently, create passive income, save for retirement, or even launch a new career.