Moving against accusations of a bubble, pronounced fluctuations in value and warnings from regulatory bodies about their advertising strategy in the media, the companies that are betting on cryptocurrencies as the current currency in Spanish real estate are making their way with the aim of promote the use of digital currencies in transactions for the sale, rental or investment in real estate assets.
The home buying and selling marketplace Tiko recently announced that it was accepting cryptocurrencies as a valid form of payment in its operations. The platform thus became the first Spanish iBuyer to accept digital currencies as a form of payment in its transactions.
The company's decision, which accepts all kinds of cryptocurrencies, from bitcoins or ethereums to smaller capitalization coins, responds to a "philosophy of greater flexibility and comfort for buyers", according to Ana Villanueva, CEO of Tiko for Spain and Portugal.
Regarding the daily fluctuations in value that cryptocurrencies usually experience, the company explains that the value of the property is always expressed in euros on its platform and acknowledges that “it is very likely that at the time of the down payment and at the time of the purchase and sale the exchange rate is different”.
To prevent fluctuations from affecting any of the parties, Tiko makes two conversions, one at the time of the down payment and another at the time of the transaction, “so that the price of the purchase is never affected by its volatility” , underlines Villanueva.
The example of Tiko illustrates a change in the conception of the use of cryptocurrencies, which can begin to get rid of the label of an essentially speculative product, to gradually gain more weight as current currency in the market for real estate transactions.
In an interview conceded to EjePrime, Gustavo Adolfo López, operations director of the API Catalonia group and co-author of the book Proptech Revolution, points out that this paradigm shift can only go further. López focuses on generational change and the green light from regulatory entities, such as the European Central Bank (ECB), so that the use of digital currencies is consolidated in the Spanish real estate market.