Could Bitcoin Become a Real Estate Standard?
Earlier this year, a mortgage broker company in Manhattan became the first company of its kind to accept bitcoins as payment. Bitcoins, representing a form of digital currency, have been making a splash in recent years as they have legitimized themselves from being worth pennies apiece to being worth upwards of six hundred dollars. Some people are optimistic that this new monetary form will have a lot of potential in the modern real estate market, but its future as a viable currency remains uncertain.
In truth, the bitcoin market is highly unstable. Investors are turned off by how easy the coins are to lose. Also, over-ambitious bitcoin “miners” could crash the entire system single-handedly. It’s a currency plagued with uncertainty, and the real estate market does not like uncertainty.
The real estate world learned a harsh lesson about the bitcoin when a couple of big players in the bitcoin market restricted the ability of bitcoin users to withdraw their digital currency. This led to a sharp decline in bitcoins, which lost investors 20% of their bitcoin value. Clearly, while digital currency may someday become a valuable part of the real estate world, the system may require more regulation before any more mortgage companies care to take a chance on it.
