Over the past 13 months or so, Bitcoin value has fluctuated wildly, experts have come out for and against its use, yet many housing industry professionals say there is a future for cryptocurrency in real estate.
Bitcoin is popular with international buyers as it is easier to get the cryptocurrency out of their respective countries, avoiding tight government regulations. One bitcoin homebuyer, who spoke under condition of anonymity to Realtor.com, recently bought a second home in California with Bitcoin. The buyer said he would have preferred to keep the deal entirely in bitcoin, but had to convert it to dollars as the seller would take cash. “I believe in it for the long term," he said, "It's a liberating technology. ... It's going to change everything."
The past few months have been a crazy roller-coaster ride for bitcoin—and the folks who have the cryptocurrency. The value of the mysterious, paradigm-shifting bitcoin shot up nineteenfold from January to December of last year. It started 2017 at a valuation of $1,000 per unit, and ended it around $19,000. And then it all came crashing down, falling below $6,000 in early February. Feeling some motion sickness yet?
