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Charlotte businesses starting to accept bitcoin as payment

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte business owners are jumping into bitcoin.

A local certified public accountant said the number of people using it is soaring.

Bitcoin is a worldwide online payment system that works without a middleman, such as a bank, to conduct transactions from one person to another.

Much of the hype is about getting rich by trading it. In the past year, the price of bitcoin has skyrocketed. Sardis Marketplace, a consignment store in Charlotte, just started accepting cryptocurrency, hoping to attract new customers.

"At this moment, the customer would use their wallet with their bitcoins, currency, and scan this and it would transfer to our account at the current rate,” said Jennifer Purrzzella, owner of Sardis Marketplace.

Small business owners said the coins could be a game changer.

“There's a lot of people that see our signs and they're like, ‘Oh, you accept bitcoin,'” Purzzella said. "People that have grown it, it's like they have all this money sitting there and if they can spend it on merchandise, it's great opportunity for them. It's great opportunity for us."

A local CPA said he has been inundated with callers unsure what to do now that tax season is here. He said it’s crucial for small businesses and shoppers to keep track of all transactions, because, unlike cash, the value of bitcoin fluctuates

Using bitcoin is more like conducting a trade, and any income earned is taxed.

"When you have cash, you buy something and nothing happens. If you use bitcoin and buy something, then it's a taxable transaction," CPA Hunter Nottingham said.

There are cryptocurrency tracking websites that will help users track transactions to make it easier to report gains or losses to the Internal Revenue Service.