One of the most entertaining aspects of any new technology is witnessing human ingenuity come to life. After all, creativity and business savvy were born to intermingle in embracing new tech. And where there’s a new industry, you can bet there will be entrepreneurs – and, in this case, home sellers – coining in on a new trend. Especially when they’re the ones pioneering it. As Bitcoin property pops up more and more (there’s even a cryptocurrency real estate agency), let’s play, ‘Cryptocurrency goes to the homeowners market!’
Dubai’s First Bitcoin Highrise
British ‘Bra Baroness’ Michelle Mone and billionaire boyfriend property Douglas Barrowman have opened up the doors to their Dubai Aston Plaza development. 700 units, out of a total 1,113 apartments, will be sold off in Bitcoin. Apparently at min 15-50% market value, to boot. Studios are priced from 30 Bitcoin, and apartments start at 50 Bitcoin. Put your wallet where your house keys are, anyone?
Turkish Bitcoin Delight
Further afield, the same is happening in Turkey’s MiaVita Beytepe project. The city of Ankara will play host to the country’s first Bitcoin-powered single tower apartment complex. There 114 apartments on 5,000 square meters of land in a prestigious part of the city. Developers hope to attract a steady stream of tech-savvy investors.
According to the project manager, “We decided to make sales via Bitcoin, which has recently attracted the attention of Turkish investors with its recent value route, considering that we could also attract the attention of our customers who appreciate their investments like this. We think that virtual or digital money, in other words, has become an element that cannot be ignored for the global economy and sooner or later it will find a permanent place in our lives.”
Texan Bitcoin Ranger
A house in Texas was bought using Bitcoin. Sale of the custom-built home was praised for the ease with which the transaction took place, thanks to employing Bitcoin in the process. The estate agency, Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty, raved about the transaction. “In all of my 33 years of closing transactions, I honestly couldn’t have expected something so unique to go so smoothly. In a matter of 10 minutes, the bitcoin was changed to U.S. dollars and the deal was done!”
Canada’s Secret(ive) Bitcoin Base
Canada stepped it up a notch. A Craigslist ad in Beijing advertised a sprawling 7-bedroom house in an exclusive golf estate in Coquitlam, Canada. For sale in Bitcoin. The caveat? At 1,075 Bitcoin, the asking price was Cdn. $3.8 million. On a Canadian property website, however, the listing is only $2.05 million. When prompted, the estate agency handling the listing declined to comment.
Also read: China Bans ICOs (Or Do They?)
London Property Market: Boom or Bitcoin
In London, real estate is getting a facelift. An entrepreneur has put up his house for (Bitcoin) sale, citing the property market as a prompt. He was reported to say, “The London property market is a bit slow at the moment and I am really interested in cryptocurrency so I thought it would be good to give someone the possibility of using Bitcoin to buy a wonderful home.”
Additionally, co-living realtor The Collective is now accepting rental payments in, you guessed it, Bitcoin.
We hope Vitalik is taking note and steps up his plans to scale Ethereum to Visa-capacity … because using Ether to buy a place to rest your head just sounds cooler!
Also read: What’s the Difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum?
