Why Lansing is investing in bitcoin

DELTA TWP. - Matt Zarka passed at the chance to invest in a digital currency called bitcoin in 2012. It was worth $8 then. 

When he checked its value four months ago, it was well over $1,000.

"I was like 'Oh my God, I missed out on it,'" said Zarka, who owns Pawn Just Jewelry in Delta Township. "I needed to get in on it."

He discovered he could buy the currency at special ATMs in metro Detroit, drove to a Sunoco gas station in Livonia and purchased one bitcoin for $1,250.

By May, he'd bought a bitcoin ATM for his shop at 4521 W. Saginaw Highway. He bought it with bitcoins. He put a sign outside to advertise it.

"I've gotten more customers with the bitcoin machine than for this pawn shop, which I've been running for five years now," he said. "When bitcoin goes down (in value), that thing gets busy."

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Bitcoin, created in 2009, is a decentralized digital currency. It isn't regulated by governments and doesn't require banks. People buy and sell it like stocks at online exchanges such as Coinbase.com or at bitcoin ATMs. As of Wednesday afternoon, one bitcoin was worth roughly $2,700.

Bitcoin's presence in Greater Lansing is growing. There are three bitcoin ATMs in the area. Zarka owns two. He just added a second one two weeks ago at his pawn shop at 5508 S. Cedar St. Another one is located in Grand Ledge. Zarka wants to install another in East Lansing.

Major companies accept it for payment, too, among them Microsoft, Dell, Overstock.com and Expedia. You can use bitcoin at marijuana delivery service in Lansing called Happy Buddha Delivery Man and at the businesses in the Grand Ledge Fledge. 

David Silva Smith believes digital currency will have an impact on people similar to that of the internet.

"When people thought of connecting computers 60 years ago, they didn't think it would impact people's daily lives, but it did," said Smith, a bitcoin investing consultant based in Delta Township. "It will be the same way with digital currency."

Smith said bitcoin can be useful for people who contract their services for businesses in other countries. They can be paid in bitcoin instead of having to exchange the payment for local currency and pay fees.

Another benefit, Smith said, is being able to send money to anyone without having to worry about a check being lost in the mail.

"I'm excited to see what bitcoin can do," he said. "There's a lot of money flowing into (digital currencies). We'll see what happens."

Smith turned $10,000 into over $600,000 in bitcoins by trading and giving out small loans. He started Bitcoin Bulls in August 2014 to blog about his investment experiences with bitcoin. 

"It was an investment at first, but then I fell in love with it," he said.

Bitcoin remained in relative obscurity until 2013, when it surged from $30 to over $200 over the course of a few months, garnering attention from the mainstream media and investors.

The amount of bitcoin is limited, so its price is expected to continue to increase over time. Bitcoin actually surpassed the value of gold in March. The currency is created, or 'mined', by people who use special computer software to solve math problems and receive bitcoins in exchange.

But bitcoin is also very volatile. It peaked at roughly $3,000 in June and then crashed to $1,938 on July 16 before bouncing back to its current value. The price can fluctuate by hundreds of dollars in a given day, which can scare traditional investors.

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However, had you invested $100 in 2011 when the currency cost $0.30, your 333.33 bitcoins would be worth roughly $902,000 as of Wednesday's figures. To invest, you don't need to buy one whole bitcoin, you can purchase a fraction for $20, $50 or $100, for example.

"It's really cool to have technology, because this is the money of the future," said Zarka, who owns roughly four bitcoins.

Zarka said he grosses roughly $12,000 a month from the fees he collects on transactions at the bitcoin ATM. He gets a 15% cut on purchases and 9% on sales.

Bitcoin has also played a role in cyber crime. Hackers and other criminals use it for ransoms and online drug deals because people can accept bitcoin without having to reveal their identities as they do at traditional banks. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice seized roughly $4 million in bitcoin after shutting down the Silk Road, an online black market for selling drugs.

When the Lansing Board of Water & Light was compromised with ransomware in April 2016, hackers demanded they pay a $25,000 ransom in bitcoin to unlock its systems. The bitcoins were bought at a bitcoin ATM outside of the Lansing area.

"Bitcoin needs to address its negative reputation and fallout on how it is used by cyber criminals and other crooks to anonymously extort money from individuals and organizations," wrote BWL spokesman Steve Serkaian, in an email.

BWL was unfamiliar with bitcoin before the attack, Serkaian wrote. He said BWL has no plans to accept bitcoin as payment in the future.

At business incubator Grand Ledge Fledge, roughly 20 businesses accept bitcoin. You can pay for recording time with bitcoin at Fledge Music Group or for equipment rentals at GAIA Power, for example.

"We see the potential in the currency," said Fledge co-founder Jerry Norris. "...it can help people raise the money to start a business. People are starting to feel the real value behind (digital) coins."

Norris heard about Bitcoin in 2012 while doing contract work in Dubai. He recalls reading a story about how authorities were searching for a bitcoin ATM supposedly operating out of a basement and was fascinated by it. Norris kept track of bitcoin ever since.

He invested $400 in digital currency in 2015. That investment is now worth roughly $32,000, which he uses to fund some business projects at the incubator.

"We didn't know (bitcoin) would get close to $3,000," Norris said. "We thought we would triple our investment, not get 10 times the return."

Norris added a bitcoin ATM at the Fledge in September.

"For a while, we were the only ATM location west of Chelsea," Norris said. "It brought in people from Grand Rapids."

Today, there are two in Grand Rapids, one in Flint and roughly 30 in metro Detroit, according to Coin ATM Radar, a website that maps bitcoin ATM locations.

But bitcoin is just one of many digital currencies. Other popular ones include Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple, though they aren't as valuable or as widely used. Bitcoin cash splintered off of bitcoin on Tuesday. It peaked at roughly $700 on Wednesday.

Smith advises people who are considering investing to start out with a small amount to get a feel for the market.

But with Bitcoin already having experienced such a boom in recent years, is it too late to jump on the bandwagon?

Norris put it this way:

"They say the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago," he said. "The second best time is right now."

Alexander Alusheff is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at (517) 388-5973 or aalusheff@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexalusheff.

Helpful links on bitcoin and investing:

Getting started with bitcoin - Bitcoin.com

What is Bitcoin? - New York Times

Basics for buying and investing in bitcoin - Investopedia

How to buy and sell bitcoin -  Business Insider