News agency Sputnik, operating in Kyrgyzstan, announced that as an experiment it would pay salaries to their employees in Bitcoins. This is interesting, because cryptocurrencies are still prohibited by Central Bank of the country.
Despite the fact that Kyrgyzstan, like Russia, has a negative attitude to Bitcoins, the first Bitcoin ATM in Central Asia is installed in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, in pizzeria Dolce Vita.
"State control of money is an atavism. Humanity is evolving rapidly and is no longer in need of supervision and enforcement apparatus. The members of a modern society are able to regulate themselves," says Iskander Sharsheev, business analyst and owner of the crypto exchange in Gyrgyzstan.
"Under the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, the sole legal tender on the territory of our country is the national currency of Kyrgyzstan Som. The use of 'virtual currency', bitcoins, in particular, as a means of payment in the Kyrgyz Republic will be a violation of the law of our state," says Central Bank’s representative.
Kirgizia is a country located in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south west and China to the east. It’s capital and largest city is Bishkek. Also, this country was previously part of the Soviet Union.
Kyrgyz authorities adopt laws with an eye on Russia, said the expert on Central Asia, Arkady Dubnov. According to Mr. Dubnov, this is due to several concerns. Firstly, Kyrgyzstan remains the most Russian-focused country in the region. Another major partner could be China, but the connection between China and Kyrgyzstan is not as strong. Secondly, is Kyrgyzstan’s entry into the Eurasian Economic Union. "When Kyrgyzstan wants to join organizations, Russia has made a number of concessions on the conditions. Kyrgyzstan is now paying the price of law regulation according to the frameworks of the Union," explains Dubnov.
Sputnik makes the first steps to pay salaries not in Soms, but in Bitcoins
“To start using this currency, we need at minimum those who understand the technology. When there are no people around, who know how to use Bitcoin, only brave and competent people start using Bitcoin. Sputnik as an experiment will start to pay a fee in Bitcoin. If you want to succeed in 5-10 years, you should start now,” says the representative of Sputnik.kg
George Gor, Editor-in-Chief of Cointelegraph, commented this news:
“Kyrgyzstan has taken steps into the future. Cointelegraph Media Outlet began to pay wages in Bitcoins before most of other media; it’s the best means of payment, if you have an international team from all over the world. Cointelegraph has a decentralized system of payment, where the amount of money depends on the amount of readers that every article has.”