The first real estate purchase with Bitcoin has been registered in Colombia last week. The company, called La Haus, sold one property in Santa Marta to a buyer that was not in Colombia at the time of the purchase. While Colombia is just starting to consider bitcoin for real estate payments, in neighboring countries like Venezuela, it is becoming more common to use crypto for such transactions.
Colombia Debuts Real Estate Purchases With Crypto
The real estate sector in Colombia has reached a milestone when it comes to cryptocurrency usage, after registering its first purchase with bitcoin. La Haus, an online real estate company, mediated in this purchase after having received a reserve payment for 0.03 BTC a month ago. The purchase was recently completed by a buyer that was not in Colombia, so the operation was completed using Lightning Network through Opennode, a payment processor.
The purchase comes roughly one month after the company announced it would accept bitcoin for reservations and payments for each one of the apartments in Natura City, a development located in Santa Marta with 160 units ready to be sold.
Crypto for Real Estate Payments
Executives at La Haus stated that they are working to expand and use these payments for developments all across the country. On this, Jehudi Castro, La Haus’ vice president of future and innovation stated:
The fact that this type of transaction has taken only a month to be carried out in Colombia speaks of the unsatisfied need that existed. We are working to bring this type of alternative to the rest of the country, so that the payment methods and the way of investment, are not a barrier to access residential property.
However, this is not the first time that La Haus has completed a cryptocurrency-based purchase. The company, which also has operations in Mexico, registered its first crypto purchase in January when a property in Mexico was acquired by a woman living in Peru.
Cryptocurrency purchases in the real estate sector are also becoming more and more common in Latam countries like Venezuela, where cars and some properties are being sold for USDT. Last year, one of these purchases occurred in a coastal state of the country, where a buyer used USDT to acquire an apartment for $12,000.
What do you think about the usage of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method for real estate purchases? Tell us in the comments section below.