JACKSON, Tenn. \u2014 In May, Jackson Mayor Scott Conger announced that the City of Jackson will possibly pay employees or contractors in cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n
However, there are a few concerns over the legality of this potential move.<\/p>\n
![\"Bitcoin\"](\"https:\/\/www.wbbjtv.com\/content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/r\/a\/bitcoin.png\")
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\u201cThe Comptroller, Jason Mumpower, sent a letter to Mayor Conger basically advising him that this needs to be carefully reviewed. It\u2019s possible that this might actually violate certain laws, including the Fair Labor Standard Act,\u201d said John Dunn, Director of Communications at Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.<\/p>\n
The Fair Labor Standards Act says wages must be paid in cash or a negotiable instrument payable at par. However, Conger says he doesn\u2019t plan on paying employees directly, but will give them the option to invest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pay employees in U.S. dollars through a third party platform or company, then they can payroll deduct their money into an investment account,\u201d Conger said.<\/p>\n
Conger says this is possibly the best way of a deferred compensation option for Jackson employees, if they choose to participate in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be holding. We wouldn\u2019t be paying. The RFP is pretty extensive on the education piece, of how to invest, what to offer, and letting the employees know what their options are if they choose to invest in any cryptocurrency or Bitcoin,\u201d Conger said.<\/p>\n
Conger says cryptocurrency in Jackson can attract and open doors for new residents, businesses, people in tech, and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose tech companies, those tech workers, those entrepreneurs, small business owners, we don\u2019t want to put all of our eggs in one basket. Say, \u2018Hey we want to land in Georgia Pacific.\u2019 We want to diversify. Just like when you invest, you want to diversify. We want to diversify how we attract people to Jackson,\u201d Conger said.<\/p>\n