UpdatedFri, May 7, 2021 at 9:12 am ET
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Mark Frederick Zraket of East Boston, Massachusetts, died while in custody at the Rockingham County Jail on April 30. The sheriff s department is investigating his death. (Shutterstock)
BRENTWOOD, NH The Rockingham County Sheriff s Office announced on Friday that it was investigating the death of a Massachusetts man in custody at the county jail on April 30.
Mark Frederick Zraket, 54, of East Boston, Massachusetts, was arrested around 11 p.m. on April 29 on a fugitive from just warrant out of Massachusetts as well as felony car theft and possession of a controlled drug charges.
Around 11 a.m., police were notified of a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu sedan from the LaQuinta Inn on Keewaydin Drive in Salem. Police put out an alert on the stolen vehicle, according to Capt. Jason Smith of the Salem Police Department, with Zraket as a suspect. Later in the day, a bank in Medford, MA, was robbed and police in that city chased the suspect s car, a
Elon Musk isn’t the first to sell cars for bitcoin Some car dealers say they beat Tesla to the trend, and bitcoin payments are a growing market By Hyunjoo Jin - 11 February 2021 Image: REUTERS Georgia car dealer Christopher Basha was way ahead of Elon Musk in embracing bitcoin as a currency for selling vehicles.
Basha said he learnt about cryptocurrency from a room mate who mined bitcoin. “Someone bought a pizza with bitcoin,” he said. “Buying a car with bitcoin didn’t seem that crazy.”
He began accepting bitcoin payments in 2015, but no customers were interested. “I almost forgot about it,” he said.
Highlights
Bitcoins are still a niche business and it also becomes a risk for car dealers as they are not tech-savvy.
Meanwhile, another dealer from California, Pietro Frigerio said when bitcoin prices surged in 2017, his store sold 20 cars in a month.
Peter Saddington, the founder of cryptocurrency startup Emrit, bought a Lamborghini Huracan in 2017 using bitcoin.
Elon Musk’s move towards cryptocurrency has created a buzz as many car dealers claim that they were way ahead than the Tesla owner, while some said that it looks like a PR stunt.
Musk had bought Dogecoin - a cryptocurrency - for his newborn, further extending his support to digital currencies. Bought some dogecoin for lil X, so he can be a toddler hodler, said the Tesla and SpaceX CEO on Twitter.
Dealers said accepting cryptocurrency is a good marketing and branding tool. But it is still a niche business. Price volatility and the absence of trusted banks and other financial intermediaries make bitcoin payments a risk for dealers who are not tech savvy.