A British baroness and asset management conglomerate Knox Group have partnered with BitPay to offer luxury Dubai property for Bitcoin.
The three-way venture will see 1,133 apartments on offer by 2019 worth around $330 mln, with the first 150 for sale at a 20 percent discount.
Mirroring ICOs
This represents the first time anyone can purchase property directly from a developer with Bitcoin, an accompanying press release states, and aspects of the sale are deliberately “mirroring” ICO executions.
“I wanted to offer the property, tech and Blockchain community an […] opportunity by merging the property and tech sectors together in a true first for the industry,” Knox Group chairman Douglas Barrowman commented.
“Bitcoin’s meteoric rise in a few short years means it’s now the world’s leading cryptocurrency. This is exactly why we are the first property development ever to be priced in Bitcoin.”
Unlike Blockchain property rights management, property sales for Bitcoin have hitherto only appeared as one-off listings or on a smaller scale, with bonafide industry participation slow to emerge.
“I believe, as it gains mainstream adoption, many will follow our lead on this,” Barrowman added.
Baroness Mone was also conscious of the potential for Bitcoin to gain a foothold in the property industry and raise the venture’s profile in doing so.
“Doug and I are both trailblazers in our own business sectors, so of course we wanted this to be different, unique and exciting – not just in the world of property, but also tech,” she continued.
“This is why it is the first-ever development to be priced in Bitcoin.”
Cointelegraph has learned that prior to completion of the project in 2019, all funds will be converted to fiat to finance development.