By Associated Press - Wednesday, January 17, 2018

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - The Virginia Beach Development Authority is investing $500,000 toward a local company’s bitcoin “mining” facility.

The Virginian-Pilot reports the city awarded the money Tuesday to BCause LLC, which is investing nearly $65 million toward its facility.

Though bitcoin was classified as a legal, convertible decentralized virtual currency in 2013 by the U.S. Treasury, its price was falling Wednesday as some countries reported they may ban cryptocurrencies. One bitcoin is worth about $10,000.

Company founder Tom Flake says the data center will be the largest in North America, bringing about 100 full-time jobs to the area with an average annual salary of $60,000. He said patrons will be able to lease mining machines for around $5,000 a year.

The operation is set to be up and running by next week.

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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com

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