2021 is proving to be a banner year for cryptocurrency. With the world still reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, alternative speculative stocks and commodities have performed surprisingly well in the face of unprecedented challenges.
Traditional financial markets, and the confidence behind them, are notably volatile at the moment. Just as recently as last week, a group of Reddit users conspired to send GameStop stock soaring in response to short selling, which left hedge fund giant Melvin Capital reeling. While Wall Street is experiencing a wobble, cryptocurrency continues to quietly build on a promising 2020.
As we have discussed on LLM – Luxury Lifestyle Magazine for the past 12 months, a bullish period for the industry’s leading currency, Bitcoin, had been predicted by experts, and may have even been enhanced by the current pandemic.
Bitcoin has reached all-time value highs in the last quarter, trading at over $40,000 as recently as this week – and cryptocurrency is showing no sign of slowing down in pursuit of mainstream acceptance, helped in part to the likes of the BitQT website, which has made crypto trading easier and potentially more profitable.
The luxury market is no exception to this growing acceptance. Last week, an unnamed tech entrepreneur listed their high-end apartment, located in Sussex Heights, the tallest building on England’s south coast, for sale – expressing a preference for the transaction to be made with cryptocurrency.
Brand Vaughan, the estate agent which holds the listing for the 20th floor apartment in Brighton, said that the mysterious seller would accept payment in traditional fiat currency, but would prefer to be paid in either Bitcoin or Ethereum.
David Vaughan, director of the firm, said: “Cryptocurrency has been gaining momentum every year. As we start to see more examples of real-world adoption of digital currencies, it is a natural progression to see more property sales accepting Bitcoin and we are proud to play an early role in that.
“We are very excited to be able to give a platform to sellers embracing this digital currency revolution.”
According to the Land Registry, only two properties have been bought via cryptocurrency in the UK, with the transactions occurring in 2017 and 2018.
The first reported property exchange occurred in Colchester, Essex, where an investor bought a £375,000-valued new-build four-bedroom home with Bitcoin, making a saving of £25,000 on the asking price by opting for cryptocurrency payment. The year after, a £595,000 townhouse in Hertfordshire was also purchased with Bitcoin.
The Sussex Heights apartment, valued at just over £500,000, could become the first property in the county to be bought using digital currency.
The two bedroom luxury apartment boasts incredible views of the seaside city of Brighton and Hove, as well as the sea, and benefits from a state-of-the-art internal renovation fit for any eligible bachelor.
The two ample-sized bedrooms sit adjacent to a sizeable reception room, equipped with a built-in bar, sauna spa bathroom, with integrated technology and a separate WC.
Designed by Richard Seifert and built between 1966 and 1968, Sussex Heights is acknowledged as an ‘imposing and prestigious’ luxury apartment block, and it holds an incredibly central position just moments from the city centre and beach.
As one would expect in such a property, no expense is spared in ensuring the residents are taken care of. A full-time concierge serves the incumbents of Sussex Heights, as well as a resident caretaker for maintenance needs.
While the preferred payment method of cryptocurrency is likely to become more and more common as sceptics begin to accept the legitimacy of digital currencies, renters have been using crypto to pay their lease for some time.
A number of innovative start-ups and property firms have embraced cryptocurrency, and its diverse base of holders, to provide housing solutions without using fiat currency.
Gravity Co-Living, a house sharing network aimed at young professionals, has accepted cryptocurrency for rental payments for some time. On the other side of the pond, ManageGo – a New York City-based property management platform, has been accepting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin since 2017.
Other interesting projects, including CryptoCribs, a crypto take on Airbnb which boasted 10,000 members, have enjoyed success. Whatever your views on cryptocurrency, you can expect to see it used more and more for property transactions in 2021.
