In a historic moment, a house in Portugal was fully bought with Bitcoin – the first time a real estate property in the country was fully purchased through cryptocurrencies.
source: Twitter
According to a local news outlet in Portugal, a real estate property was bought for the price of 3 Bitcoins for the first time in a European country. Located in the city of Braga, the property held a list price of 110,000 Euros.
The purchase was made possible through a new set of guidelines issued to notaries on how to make deeds for the purchase and sale of houses in digital assets. Under the new rules, users can directly interact with real estate properties through crypto and do not need to convert them to Euros before the deed was made.
Zome, a local real estate agency that facilitated the transaction, said “This deed represents a historic milestone, the transfer of a digital asset to a physical asset – a house – without any conversion to euros”
Portugal is yet another country in the European Union that has managed to capitalize on the crypto boom without cutting progress through stiff regulations. Since it views crypto as a form of investment and not an asset, investors do not have to a penny in crypto taxes. AS a result, the country is also a popular destination for foreign crypto investments.
Why is this important for Bitcoin?
Real estate and cryptocurrencies are not a new concept. Banks and financial institutions have mulled over various avenues to integrate the two. In February, a real-estate startup Propy sold its first NFT-backed property in the U.S., fetching it more than half a million in sales. The NFTs were put up as collateral in the transaction.
Although down-payments and collaterals can be paid in crypto, a fully funded real estate purchase is a rare occurrence due to price fluctuations. The concept means exchanging a volatile asset such as Bitcoin for an asset that normally appreciates over time, such as real estate. However, developments in Portugal are an encouraging sign that shows faith in Bitcoin’s long-term success.