The freelancing market is huge. This is something that is common knowledge. What is not common knowledge is just how big the global and the U.S. freelancing markets are. They exceed even the GDP of some of the biggest economies in the world which is bigger than the economies of Switzerland and Saudi Arabia.
Upwork and Freelancers Union joined hands to create a market report on the U.S. freelancing economy of today. They found that the U.S. freelancing revenue even exceeds a gross domestic product of some of the leading economies of the world. It is worth nearly $1 trillion and that amounts to 5% of the GDP of the United States. On the other hand, the global freelancing market is worth almost $1.5 trillion.
Why Freelancing is on the Rise Again?
In the past, workers used to continue working for their employers out of perceived loyalty and because of the strong worker unions. Today, these factors are not as strong as they used to be. As per a recent survey about freelancing in America, 56% of respondents said that employers are less loyal now. 38% of respondents also said that today’s employers are less trustworthy to their employees compared to that of ten years ago.
The highly performing employees of today are turning freelancers because of the indifference shown towards them by the employers. As more and more professionals have taken up freelancing as a career, the stigma that was attached to freelancing in the past has diminished. Freelancing is not viewed as a last resort anymore.
Many highly-skilled individuals are starting on their own with a belief that they can do better as a freelancer rather than an employee. Technology has also made it easier for the professionals of today to get into the lucrative world of freelancing.
Applications like Slack, Zoom, and many more have made it possible to stay connected and organized regardless of one’s location. An individual only needs a laptop and Wifi to start freelancing. Additionally, the availability of freelancing platforms has made it easier for freelancers to get in touch with companies who need their services.
Let’s explore some of the top freelancing platforms for the crypto community now.
#1. Blocklancer
Blocklancer is one of the most innovative crypto freelancing platforms. It allows freelancers to get paid in cryptocurrency for the work they do for the clients registered on their platform. The key benefit of this platform is that all of the freelancer’s work is recorded in the blockchain. There are three core components of the Blocklancer ecosystem and these are Token holders, Clients, and Freelancers.
The token holders receive 100% of the fees charged from the freelancer’s total earnings on the Blocklancer platform. Currently, the freelancers are charged 3% of their earned cryptocurrencies after completing the contractual work that they got from the Blocklancer platform.
They have become a dependable platform for many freelancers that are registered on Blocklancer. Freelancers are benefited from guaranteed crypto payment, no censorship, unrivaled low fees, and fair dispute settlement when they claim work from the Blocklancer platform. Blocklancer has proved that a decentralized freelance platform is a better option for freelancers.
The clients who hire freelancers from the Blocklancer platform are charged no fees as the 3% fee that Blocklancer deducts is targeted at the freelancers registered on their platform and not the clients. This is unlike what happens on major platforms like UpWork and Freelancer. The clients registered on these sites are charged 2.75% and 3% of the total amount of the contract.
#2. Ethlance
As the name suggests, Ethlance directly runs on the Ethereum blockchain. It is a freelancer platform where freelancers can register and complete the work for clients that matches their skills and qualifications. The freelancers are paid in ETH for the work they do for the clients registered on Ethlance. Ethereum is the only payment option available on Ethlance.
Ethlance ensures that contractual obligations are met through smart contracts and facilitates escrow between freelancers and clients through it. Thus, both freelancers and clients are at ease as they don’t have to rely on any third party.
#3. CryptoGrind
The freelancers look towards CryptoGrind when they want to work and get paid in Bitcoin. CryptoGrind is one of the most well-known freelancing platforms which allow freelancers to get paid in cryptocurrencies. The freelancers can use their platform to search across a variety of available jobs using both words and keyword tags.
CryptoGrind allows freelancers to create a profile on their platform. They can add their basic information in their profile and also add a resume with it. A freelancer can also include the type of services that they provide in their profile. One of the key features of CryptoGrind is that the freelancers are free to dictate the pricing of their services.
The platform holds BTC payment in an escrow account until the agreement is fulfilled as per the satisfaction of the clients. Once the employer is content with the service rendered by the freelancer, they can approve the work with just a click of a button.
Conclusion
The crypto-based payment options will grow further with the rise of freelancing as a career option globally and the ease of payments that cryptocurrencies offer. However, the payment experience may be inconvenient for the freelancers when opting for getting paid in cryptocurrencies through the blockchain-based freelance platform of today.
NOWPayments have come to the rescue of freelancers here as we offer an easy and simple process to create crypto invoices. We support than 40 cryptocurrencies, provide a custody-free solution and the best ever user experience.
What are you waiting for? Go ahead and check out our invoicing service.