13 Jan 2014 / DNAinfo – LOWER EAST SIDE — When bar and standup comedy joint Old Man Hustle gets a little quiet, owner Mike Jarmuz likes to enlighten his customers on the virtues of Bitcoin.
The Essex Street bar recently started accepting the digital currency as payment for wine and beer, and a TV inside often shows a ticker with real-time ups and downs in the international Bitcoin market.
“Cryptocurrencies [digital money like Bitcoin] are here to stay and that’s that,” said Jarmuz, 31. “Bitcoins are fun. They are revolutionary.”
Old Man Hustle has joined a growing group of dozens of businesses across the city using Bitcoin, a decentralized currency with no physical form. Bitcoin has gained in popularity — and value — over the past year, with a single unit of the currency briefly trading for more than $1,200 cash in December.
“It is increasing exponentially,” said Marco Santori, 31 a digital currency lawyer for the Midtown firm Nesenoff & Miltenberg.
New Yorkers can now get their backs adjusted by chiropractor Dr. Steven Schram in Kips Bay, eat at O-Crepes in DUMBO and guzzle a beer at EVR bar near Bryant Park, all by paying in Bitcoin…… Read more
