Canadian Homeowner Will Only Take Bitcoin for Condo Sale
A Toronto man is demanding digital currency for his Ontario property.
Former Wall Street businessman Derryn Shrosbree has listed his home for 35 bitcoins- $450,000 in today’s market. He told CBC News that the move was driven by a belief in the technology: “I believe it’s the future”.
It marks the first local occurrence of such a use of Bitcoin, although a buyer has not been lined up. Only accepting cryptocurrency drastically limits the amount of potential buyers, so it is unclear how long the property will take to sell – if at all.
Anthony Diiorio, CEO of Decentral who made Forbes recent crypto rich-list with an estimated $1b crypto wealth, was cautious of the move. He told the Canadian source that it may well be a marketing gimmick by cryptocurrency advocates and does not see a deal going through:
“I would say something like this is more of a marketing gimmick at this time…If someone is really interested in selling a house, what are the chances that they find the person that would really want their house and that person would have the Bitcoin in order to pay for it?”
Whilst this is the first use of Bitcoin in the property market, Bitcoin has made the news many times in the years past. The virtual currency is growing in use in the mainstream world, with many small business and artists now accepting the coin. Last year Icelandic national Bjork was one example, accepting Bitcoin in exchange for the singers newest album. Bit2Art is another example, allowing users to buy a range of artworks using crypto. A report by CCN.com examined the topic in greater detail, picking out the ten strangest things you can buy with the Bitcoin currency.
Acceptance of cryptocurrencies is growing fast. Whilst it sounds strange today, in future years it’s possible that buying a house with Bitcoin will be just another everyday transaction.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
