Security Sales & Integration July 2022 - 8

INDUSTRY PULSE
IN DEPTH
Get ready for the new
reality of having to accept
cryptocurrency payments from your
customers, especially affluent Millennials
who made a mint speculating in the decentralized
blockchain network money.
It's already here - according to recent
study by Digital.com, 29% of U.S. businesses
will be accepting cryptocurrency
payments by the end of this year.
It seems like a scary proposition, especially
since the media is flooded with
details about the outrageous investment
speculation in cryptocurrencies that
cause its value to rise and fall dramatically.
Since " crypto " literally means " deceiver, "
there is an inherent fear that must be
overcome by educating yourself on the
topic. Integrators should seek out advice
on the subject from their broker, banker
or other trusted source.
Remember about a decade ago when
most systems integrators did not accept
credit card payments? Today, it's commonplace
to accept credit card payments
and absorb the processing fees. Likewise,
it's only a matter of time before your clients
start asking to pay you in Bitcoin,
Dogecoin, Ethereum or one of the other
popular cryptocurrencies.
It already happened to Randy Massey,
owner of integration firm Electronic Home
in Atlanta, and the transaction proved quite
lucrative but risky. Last year, one of Massey's
previous customers asked if he would accept
the payment in cryptocurrency.
" He basically had been speculating in
the crypto market and wanted to hide it
from his wife, " Massey quips. " At first, I
was against doing it because you lose a
percentage on the transaction, but we
take credit cards and lose a percentage
every time we do that. I also thought
about asking him, 'Why don't you just go
cash it in and bring me the money?' But
then I saw that Bitcoin was on its way up,
8
Security Sales & Integration JULY 2022
NEWS ANALYSIS RESEARCH PEOPLE
Is Your Firm Prepared to Accept Crypto
Payments? by Jason Knott
Security dealers may need to start considering the risk-reward reality as
cryptocurrencies become more mainstream
so I decided to gamble. So, I let him pay
me $400,000 in 10 Bitcoins. "
To handle the transaction, Massey set up
a Coinbase account, which can take several
weeks. Numerous notarized affidavits are
required since cryptocurrencies have been
known to be used by nefarious individuals
to launder money. Coinbase, along with BitPay
and others, work like credit card fees in
that it takes a percentage when you sell the
crypto. When you receive the payment, it
can be converted to U.S. dollars at the current
exchange rate at the time of the transaction.
At the time of Electronic Home's
transaction, each Bitcoin was valued just
below $40,000.
" I purposely went into it knowing I was
going to sell it. I had no intention of holding
onto it long-term. I was looking at a shortterm
hold, but still it was a gamble. In about
one month, it went up to $56,000 and I sold
nine of the 10, " says Massey.
The result is that he made an additional
$104,000 on the project! Pretty sweet, but
pretty risky.
" It could have gone down just as easily
as it went up. It went up so quickly that I
was scared it was going to go down just as
fast, so I sold it. I did not hit the high, but I
hit it close to the high. It was pure luck, " he
recalls. " It was not based on knowledge; it
was not based on being an expert in crypto.
When the client first approached me, I
didn't know anything about crypto. I had to
go find out how you even accept crypto. "
Would he do it again? " Sure, but I would
be very cautious and investigate how it is
trending. At the time I did it, everyone was
saying it was on the rise and was going to
hit $100,000 per Bitcoin. But like everything
... what goes up must come down and it
ended up coming down, " says Massey. (Indeed,
Bitcoin's price hovered around $30K
at SSI press time.)
For most security integrators, the idea
of holding on to a cryptocurrency payment
for a prolonged period is not feasible, especially
since that money is likely needed to
purchase the equipment for the project and
maintain cashflow.
As crypto takes hold, you don't want to
be that person in the market still asking the
client for a handwritten check. " I don't have
any other words of advice for integrators
other than, 'Be careful,' " Massey says.
JASON KNOTT is Editor-in-Chief of SSI
sister publication CE Pro.
securitysales.com
TRAVIS/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
http://www.Digital.com http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration July 2022

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