> and there's a significant hoop to pay someone in crypto

Not sure why that would be. Being paid in Bitcoin is very easy. Download a non-custodial Wallet such as Phoenix Wallet or Wallet of Satoshi (new version is non-custodial) and you can receive on-chain bitcoin, or even better, lightning payments right away. You create an invoice as a link or QRcode and send it to your employer, and done.

The payer (employer) most likely will need to convert fiat/cash to bitcoin first, but since the kacet project aims to attract companies in that space, there shouldn't be an issue.