A company paid an employee for his cryptocurrency work. However, after the cryptocurrency price skyrocketed by 700%, the employer wants the coins back, offering instead to pay the employee in US dollars.
Employer wants cryptocurrencies back after they rise by 700%
Marketwatch posted a letter to The Moneyist reporter Quentin Fottrell on Monday from someone asking for advice on crypto payments received from his employer. The Moneyist is a service that provides answers to all dilemmas, and Fottrell is the publication's personal finance editor and columnist for The Moneyist.
The letter was signed "Crypto Confused", explaining that he had done business development work for a technology startup "on a contract basis". The company is still looking to generate its first dollar in sales, he noted.
"The purpose of the contract was to generate sales and it included a commission component, but the understanding was that I would bill hourly for cold calls and emails, generation of proposals, organization of meetings, attendance and conducting presentations, etc., with the aim of generating revenue ", explains the letter, adding:
“In August 2020, I received the payment for the cryptocurrency employment contract. Since then, cryptocurrency prices have skyrocketed. Since that time, the quotation of the cryptocurrency in which I received the payment increased by 700% ”.
As the price of the cryptocurrency paid by the startup to the employee has skyrocketed, the CEO of the company wrote to the employee. He explained that “Since you have not generated any revenue for the company and are not currently doing any follow-up work, please return all cryptocurrencies received in August 2020. You can bill the company for hours worked in USD. ”States the letter.
Crypto Confused wasn't sure what to do and is asking for advice on whether to return some of the cryptocurrency for hours worked.
It is not known which cryptocurrency he received
In response to the letter, Fottrell insisted that he shouldn't have to return any cryptocurrency. "No. Alas, no. No thanks. Absolutely not. Ask me again in 2121 ”, he wrote, underlining:
"Your employer should abide by the terms of his contract… Even if the contract stipulated that you could be paid in dollars or cryptocurrency, claiming your salary refund is a completely different matter."
Fottrell added that “any attempt to break that contract about employees not doing X or Y, meaning they should be paid one way or another, is acute practice at best and opens it up to a lawsuit at worst ”.
Do you think the employee should return part of the cryptocurrency received from the employer? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
