Investors have been drawn like moths to a flame for the real estate market in South Florida specifically those from Latin America Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina.
And Bitcoin, is their preferred currency and alternative payment of choice in the real estate industry, specifically that in the United States (U.S.).
“This seems to be driven by international investors who are circumventing inefficient banking and currency controls at home, and by US cryptocurrency enthusiasts,” said economist and bitcoin expert Charles Evans of Barry University.
“The governments in those countries restrict the amount of money that their residents are allowed to transfer abroad through the banking system. Bitcoin enables individuals there to bypass such restrictions,” Evans added.
Such transactions can be useful for foreigners who want to invest in the U.S. and cannot otherwise do so, Evans told AFP.
As of the end of 2017, the digital currency was listed as a way to pay for some 75 properties for sale, especially in south Florida and California, according to the U.S. real estate firm Redfin.
One seller is going even farther, saying he will take only bitcoin (33 of them to be exact) for his half-million-dollar downtown condo in the Florida metropolis. “Bitcoin accepted” is a message now seen in the description of homes for sale in the Miami area, reported “The New Age”.
Bitcoin is slowly making its way into closings on everything from Lake Tahoe land in California to Manhattan condos to single-family homes in the heart of Texas, reported “CNBC”.
