NEAR Foundation Transitions to Toku for All-In-One Crypto-Native EOR and Token Grant Solutions

Introduction:

NEAR Foundation (NF) is a Switzerland-based nonprofit foundation whose mission is to enable community driven innovation to benefit people around the world.  One of its core areas of focus is the support and development of the NEAR Protocol and its associate ecosystem, which includes a fully operational decentralised layer 1 blockchain for building decentralized applications.

NF has a global contributor base and forward-thinking compensation model that includes both fiat and token-based payments. 

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The Challenge:

With both local fiat and token grant compensation, NEAR Foundation’s prior Employer of Record (EOR) providers required extensive manual work from the internal team to manage the complexities of token grants and flexible compensation structures. The NF team had to invest significant time and effort to ensure payroll compliance and accurate payments, which became increasingly challenging as the organization grew.

NF also needed a partner who could support flexible compensation options for their global workforce. Employees had varying preferences for receiving their pay, whether in fiat, tokens, or a combination of both, which their previous EOR providers could not accommodate.

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The Solution:

With extensive expertise in transitioning clients from Web2 providers, Toku ensured a smooth onboarding experience for NF’s global team by offering a comprehensive, seamless solution that directly addressed these challenges.

This included a well-planned, structured transition from their previous providers that minimized disruption and enabled NF to quickly shift its payroll operations to Toku’s platform without delays or manual headaches.

Additionally, Toku provided NF with compensation flexibility by managing a pay preference program, which allowed employees to choose how they wanted to receive their compensation—whether in fiat, tokens, or a mix of both. Toku’s platform seamlessly handled payroll processing for both fiat and token payments, calculating and remitting taxes across multiple jurisdictions while ensuring compliance with local regulations.

With a dedicated project manager and a personalized high-touch approach, Toku ensured NEAR Foundation’s employment, token grant administration and payroll processes were efficient and compliant. 

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“We were looking for a partner who understood the complexities of token compensation and could support a smooth transition from our previous Web2 provider. Toku's expertise in both areas has been extremely helpful, and their attentive service made the transition much easier.”

‍— Franka Bestmann, Director of People Operations — NEAR Foundation

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