Digital-Currency Milestone: Somebody Just Bought A House With Bitcoin

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Tyler Durden
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A day after Bridgewater Associates Founder Ray Dalio claimed that bitcoin was “definitely in a bubble” partly because he said the digital currency was too difficult to spend, CoinTelegraph is reporting that the first-ever bitcoin-only real-estate transaction has been completed in Texas.

The transaction “illustrates crypto’s potential to transform how financial transactions are conducted,” according to Futurism.com.

The Texas-based real estate brokerage firm Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty, the firm that reperesented the buyer, declined to disclose the number of bitcoins that were exchanged for the home. Futurism.com noted the ease with which the transaction was conducted. “The buyer simply transferred the bitcoin to the seller, who then converted it into US dollars.”

“In all of my 33 years of closing transactions, I honestly couldn’t have expected something so unique to go so smoothly,” Kuper Sotheby’s Sheryl Lowe, the buyer’s agent, said in a press release. “In a matter of 10 minutes, the bitcoin was changed to U.S. dollars and the deal was done!”

Located in the central part of Austin, the property is just a few miles away from downtown.

Futurism opines that the real estate transaction is “further proof” that bitcoin isn’t “a fraud.” Instead, the transaction is another example of the increasing acceptance of cryptocurrencies, which are poised to revolutionize a variety of industries beyond finance, from transportation to entertainment to politics.

According to Futurism, the home has grand entertaining areas, a master suite, and a chef-worthy kitchen. Sheryl Lowe of Kuper Sotheby’s that she “honestly couldn’t have expected something so unique to go so smoothly.” She said the seller was able to convert the bitcoin into US dollars in a matter of minutes.

“In a matter of 10 minutes, the Bitcoin was changed to US Dollars and the deal was done!” she said in a statement.

News of the sale comes about a week after one UK company focused on building affordable housing for young professionals said it would begin accepting bitcoin for down payments on its properties.

Hear that, Ray?

Bitcoin has largely recovered from a selloff earlier in the month that was triggered by news that Chinese authorities were cracking down on local exchanges after banning initial coin offerings. The selloff worsened after JP Morgan Chase & CO CEO Jamie Dimon called bitcoin a “fraud” and said he would fire any traders caught speculating in it. One coin was trading at $4,006 on CoinDesk Wednesday morning. Earlier today, we noted that the price of a share of the Swiss National Bank climbed back above the price of one bitcoin on Wednesday thanks to a 13% jump. The bitcoin price, meanwhile, was largely flat.

Bitcoin, SNB Stock Price Compared monthly (see more posts on Bitcoin, ) - Click to enlarge