In San Antonio, Texas, Clayton runs George Plumbing Company, the business his grandfather built in 1947, which is approaching its 80th anniversary.
Tradespeople spend their careers understanding the value of a specific tool and how to use it wisely. They take the time to size up whether the tool will accomplish the fix that they're aiming for and if it will earn a place in their toolbox. This is the same mentality that Clayton has about crypto. In his words, “What is a better way to control your financial future than to own the asset yourself?”
Where curiosity started
He stumbled upon an online conversation about Bitcoin and the functionality of crypto. He isn't much of a tech guy, but he got the part that counted: that crypto is like a self-balancing system that nobody single-handedly controls. From there, he read and researched to get a firmer grasp of how to use crypto, which led him to his first purchase in January 2014. And he held on to that position for the next 12 years, with plans to continue holding.
For anyone looking to get the same footing he spent those months building, the NCA's Crypto 101 course covers the basics - no tech degree required.
Making the case at home
Getting a plumbing company that had been around since 1947 to hold crypto as a company asset, right there alongside the trucks and the equipment, took some convincing, but Clayton was confident. He started by helping his team understand the tool, comparing a blockchain to plumbing: the asset moves across it like water through pipes, and the blockchain itself serves as the underground infrastructure that makes it all run. It landed, and crypto was added to the company's balance sheet, where it has stayed for the better part of a decade.
That decision has paid off in a very practical way. Using its crypto as collateral, the company has been able to take out loans to purchase vehicles and reinvest in training without ever having to sell the position, which meant real room to grow what it could take on - and to put more back into the people who work there. Other small business owners like Jake have found similar flexibility in running things on their own terms.
"Crypto allows us to have a tool for payment. It allows us to grow our family business and also reinvest into our community and our employees."
– Clayton, Master Plumber & Small Business Owner
Paying the plumber in crypto
The company also accepts crypto as payment for plumbing work, right alongside cash, checks, and cards. It sets the business apart from everyone else in town, and there is something fun about a shop founded in 1947 being the one that will take crypto for a water heater.
Key takeaways
Clayton's story shows crypto working as one tool inside a business that predates it by decades. He spent months learning how it worked before he ever bought any of it, and years holding it before it did much for the company.
When it finally did, that value went back into the shop and into the people who work there, funding new vehicles and training along the way. The independence and ownership he sees in crypto are the same things the trade has always run on.
Small business owners curious about crypto do not need Clayton's conviction to borrow his approach. Learn how the tool works first. Start small. Then explore how it could work for your business.