Live data from Hacker News

Launch HN: Multis (YC S19): online business bank account for cryptocurrency

news.ycombinator.com

11–20 of 27 posts

Re: Launch HN: Multis (YC S19): online business bank account for cryptocurrency

#11
post #7
post #3

You already mentioned payroll and vendors, so I think you're already thinking of what I'm about to suggest... and then I might try to talk you out of it. When I think of business cryptocurrency financial stuff, I also think of those things. Employees need to be paid, and they might want their paycheck in crypto or in fiat, or a combination of the two. Vendors that need to be paid will usually just want fiat, either t…

Payrolls are done by accounting, but they use an interface to the bank to make the actual payments. It's usually a CSV file or similar, which is uploaded by the accounting software, and has just the amounts and account numbers. Checks are not used outside of USA.

Having worked at ZenPayroll in the early days, I can say with confidence that this is not true. Payroll is not handled by accounting software and it sure as hell is not uploading amounts and account numbers.

As for paying people in crypto, we considered it (I was the engineer working on it) and then we decided against it because it’s a terrible idea.

1. Crypto transactions aren’t reversible so reversing fraud is impossible.

2. Users don’t fully understand how blockchainy things work. Providing customer support to explain wtf any of it means would be a nightmare.

3. Users can’t use crypto for anything. I mean maybe buying illegal things on DarkNet markets but other than that the entire blockchain ecosystem—billions of dollars of investment—has yet to build a single usable product solving a real problem.

4. Currency changes value all of the time. What if someone can’t pay rent because they were paid in Internet coins that lost value in the time between their pay period and the end of the month? They’re just…kind of fucked? And again, most people don’t really understand what’s going on here so “it’s their fault” is a very uninteresting response. Don’t set people up to make poor decisions with ramifications they don’t understand, even if we can absolve ourselves of theoretical accountability on Internet forums.

5. In the US you can’t pay people in whatever you want. These regulations exist for good reason, back from when companies would try to pay people in store credit. Is blockchain whatever a real currency or a narrow utility that locks people in? Legally it’s a grey area (or was when we worked on it.)

Overall, it’s just a terrible idea. No one is sitting at home thinking, “damn, I wish I could be paid in blockchain.” I mean, they kind of where when crypto was going up and up and up and it was some speculative get-rich-quick pump and dump, but not anymore. (And anyway, we maybe shouldn’t encourage people being paid in speculative coins with no real-world uses? I don’t know.)

Re: Launch HN: Multis (YC S19): online business bank account for cryptocurrency

#12
post #11
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Payrolls are done by accounting, but they use an interface to the bank to make the actual payments. It's usually a CSV file or similar, which is uploaded by the accounting software, and has just the amounts and account numbers. Checks are not used outside of USA.

Having worked at ZenPayroll in the early days, I can say with confidence that this is not true. Payroll is not handled by accounting software and it sure as hell is not uploading amounts and account numbers. As for paying people in crypto, we considered it (I was the engineer working on it) and then we decided against it because it’s a terrible idea. 1. Crypto transactions aren’t reversible so reversing fraud is impo…

> Payroll is not handled by accounting software

In many countries it is. Never understood what makes payroll so complex in the US that justifies another layer.

Re: Launch HN: Multis (YC S19): online business bank account for cryptocurrency

#14
Great idea!

Just this week I was approached by a recruiter for a crypto-app building company that I know of and really like. I was (imo) a great candidate for them skill-wise, but they only pay in BTC. And while I'm a fan of crypto, I have bills to pay and they all want dollars. I don't want to deal with converting to USD every paycheck and figuring out if I need to pay taxes, transferring to my "real" bank account, etc.

I REALLY hope you all can help with stuff like that!

Re: Launch HN: Multis (YC S19): online business bank account for cryptocurrency

#15
post #11
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Payrolls are done by accounting, but they use an interface to the bank to make the actual payments. It's usually a CSV file or similar, which is uploaded by the accounting software, and has just the amounts and account numbers. Checks are not used outside of USA.

Having worked at ZenPayroll in the early days, I can say with confidence that this is not true. Payroll is not handled by accounting software and it sure as hell is not uploading amounts and account numbers. As for paying people in crypto, we considered it (I was the engineer working on it) and then we decided against it because it’s a terrible idea. 1. Crypto transactions aren’t reversible so reversing fraud is impo…

1. Was fraud a big issue at ZenPayroll? I would assume this to be an issue for fortune 500 companies, not smbs

2. We're helping crypto companies for now - they get it. Hopefully non-crypto people will get it too as crypto becomes mainstream :)

3. e-merchants like Rakuten started accepting crypto. Amazon could follow. Consumer apps offering higher interest rates than traditional banking could also be compelling

4. You're right! that's why we're bullish on stablecoins like USDC or DAI - value is pegged to USD

5. Still grey, but moving fast - you can now pay people with bitcoin as long as they get minimal wage in USD. Paying bonus in crypto is an interesting use case

Re: Launch HN: Multis (YC S19): online business bank account for cryptocurrency

#16
post #13

Very interested in testing out your product as it seems like it solves some real painpoints of ours. Is there someone we can reach out to directly and provide detailed feedback to after we have a chance to try it out?

We'd love to help and get your feedback! thibaut@multis.co

Re: Launch HN: Multis (YC S19): online business bank account for cryptocurrency

#17
post #14

Great idea! Just this week I was approached by a recruiter for a crypto-app building company that I know of and really like. I was (imo) a great candidate for them skill-wise, but they only pay in BTC. And while I'm a fan of crypto, I have bills to pay and they all want dollars. I don't want to deal with converting to USD every paycheck and figuring out if I need to pay taxes, transferring to my "real" bank account,…

totally understand the hassle of figuring out how to pay taxes etc.

we definitely want to champion this idea of having fiat and crypto side by side, and how to do it properly.

going all crypto might be too brutal and we think the hybrid approach makes more sense: work for a company that pays you in fiat (for bills and legacy stuff ;)) and crypto.

life is an experiment ;p

Re: Launch HN: Multis (YC S19): online business bank account for cryptocurrency

#20
post #9
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, here's a random idea that might integrate with your business model. Some companies like to offer profit sharing. You could support that by allowing the company to issue a token of some kind to employees on a regular basis as part of their pay check or manually as a bonus. Either the ownership of their tokens could make them eligible for proportionate distribution of profit share payouts (during the holidays, or w…

interesting! that would be some sort of continuous employee stock-option plans

Basically, but I would consider checking with your legal council on the exact terminology that you use to make life easier :-)
Post reply on HN