Bitcoin reached its maximum historical value this March, by surpassing 50.000 euro per unit. More than a decade after its launch, it has become an international phenomenon which has been grabbing the general public’s attention.
Amongst its detractors, who consider it an obscure source of speculative bubbles and its proponents, who see in it a revolutionary way of making payments free from the manipulation of the traditional monetary authorities, bitcoin has been leading the way in the last few years. It has spiked the interest of great financial institutions, central banks, governments and consumers.
Real estate has not escaped bitcoin’s influence, little by little bitcoin is starting to expand as a way to pay for houses.
Fotocasa has currently registered around thirty dwellings which accept botcoins as payment. Most are single family houses or high standing chalets, some of them cost more than two million euro, which would represente 40 bitcoins at the current rate.
However, more conventional buildings are also being announced as accepting this currency as payment, which shows that bitcoin is slowly becoming more popular among more common property owners. Numerous average dwellings, with 2 or 3 bedrooms at prices between 100.000 and 200.000 euro (2 and 4 bitcoins respectively), are announced at Fotocasa as accepting bitcoins.
«As a digitally native company we are fully open to the possibility of hosting real estate adds indicating they accept bitcoin as a payment method. It is certain that this currency is beginning to be accepted more and more in many markets and we consider that the real estate sector should not ignore this trend», stated María Matos, studios director and spokesperson for the real estate portal.