It’s a typical Westport real estate listing:
“5 beds, 4.5 baths in 4200 sq ft on a quiet cul de sac street close to train, shopping, restaurants in a town that offers a progressive lifestyle.”
5 Ridgewood Lane is off North Kings Highway, between Wilton Road and Old Hill.
But the rest of the write-up for the 5 Ridgewood Lane home is unlike anything you’ve ever read:
Currently accepting CRYPTOCURRENCY. Climb into your very own Crypto Cryb in NYC’s backyard and diversify your portfolio. Blockchain Homes presents its first residential property to be offered for purchase in cryptocurrency. Bring your Bit Coin or Etherum to the one and only Westport, Connecticut modern farmhouse designed and inspired by the crypto climate of a cutting edge lifestyle…. Be the first to make a Blockchain Home purchase.
So how much does it cost?
“250BTC or 3,030ETH.”
That sound you just heard is thousands of local realtors going, “Oh. My. God.”
(Click here for the full New York Times listing. Hat tip: Peter Blau)
So, how much is that in real money?
My thought as well. And I don’t even like it.
It’s not for everybody. Inovative design for an innovative audience tired of fifty shades of gray.
“Crypto crib” sounds like something from “The Fall of the House of Usher”.
Wonder if the seller would accept XRP or ZCash.
Or actual cash.
Hey Mike, happy to discuss other crypto currencies.
Today one Bitcoin is roughly $8,333.
It’s a fabulous house!!!
Attractive on the outside. The interior is another story.
Thank you, Mary!
Not OMG Dan. It’s just a different way to pay. But with the vagaries of cryptocurrency in a home purchase it could be risky for either party. The values move quickly, much more so than the US Dollar or Euro. But it is a way to attract attention to a property. I’d be happy to help you put in an offer. 🙂
I’d love to. I just don’t need 5 bedrooms.
Hey John! Happy to show you the actual physical space. I own it.
Four bedrooms up. Fifth is set up as an office.
“5 beds, 4.5 baths in 4200 sq ft “….maybe someone who is concerned about their carbon footprint can buy it, and then use cryptocurrency to buy a Tesla as a way to showcase their concern.
Except that it’s estimated that Bitcoin creation is consuming as much electricity as the entire country of Ireland – so much for the carbon footprint….
https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(18)30177-6
Not to worry, buying a Tesla will fix that.
Four bedrooms up. Fifth is set up as an office.
C’mon, YouPeople:There’s no house there. It’s AI-aided VR from GoogleDuplex.
Hey john new at blogging arena. My post landed as reply elsewhere but happy to show you the home. It exists.
Dan, thank you for the post!
Why would anyone want to pay in Bitcoin and pay close to $2.1 million (in dollars) (converted from 250 BTC) for a house that was previously listed for much lower than that. It would make more sense for someone to convert their 250 BTC to cash and then offer $1.6 in cash. And as a holder of Bitcoins, my ROI will be much higher by holding on to them than putting them into real estate. I just don’t see upside here! I’m keeping my Bitcoins!
Two items: One WPIX reported this on last night’s news.
Two (from the Washington Post): State regulators unveil nationwide crackdown on suspicious cryptocurrency investment schemes https://wapo.st/2kbJcGX?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.b1cc206129a8
More:
Every cryptocurrency’s nightmare scenario is happening to Bitcoin Gold
By Joon Ian Wong
May 24 2018
Bitcoin Gold is a fork, or spin-off, of the original cryptocurrency, bitcoin. It shares much of the same code and works in a similar way to bitcoin, with Bitcoin Gold miners contributing computational power to process new transactions. That also means it faces the same vulnerabilities as bitcoin, but without the protections that come from the large, dispersed group of people and organizations whose computers are powering the bitcoin blockchain.
In recent days the nightmare scenario for any cryptocurrency is playing out for Bitcoin Gold, as an attacker has taken control of its blockchain and proceeded to defraud cryptocurrency exchanges. All the Bitcoin Gold in circulation is valued at $786 million, according to data provider Coinmarketcap. Blockchains are designed to be decentralized but when an individual or group acting in concert controls the majority of a blockchain’s processing power, they can tamper with transactions and pave the way for fraud. This is known as a 51% attack.
The possibility of a 51% attack has been one of the concerns institutions such as banks and tech companies have had over the years about using the blockchain for transactions; some have worried that the Chinese government could at some point endeavor to do that, ordering all of the Chinese bitcoin miners to act in concert. It’s unlikely for bitcoin, but for smaller cryptocurrencies, 51% attacks are a concern, one dramatized on a recent episode of HBO’s series Silicon Valley.
Cryptocurrency miners commit their computer processing power—or hash power—to adding new transactions to a coin’s blockchain. They are rewarded in units of the coin in return. The idea is that these incentives create competition among miners to add more hash power to the chain. The more hash power is added, the better the chances of winning a reward.
So what’s a 51% attack? It’s when a single miner controls more than half of the hash power on a particular blockchain. When this happens, that miner can mess with transactions in a bunch of ways, including spending coins twice. This is the “double-spending problem,” a puzzle surrounding digital money that has vexed computer scientists for years—and which was solved by bitcoin. But the solution only holds if no single miner controls the majority of the hash power on a chain.
Bitcoin Gold has been experiencing double-spending attacks for at least a week, according to forum posts by Bitcoin Gold director of communications Edward Iskra. Someone has taken control of more than half of Bitcoin Gold’s hash rate and is double-spending coins. Since an attacker must spend coins in his or her possession, and can’t conjure up new coins, the attack is somewhat limited.
What’s happening now, according to Iskra, is that exchanges that automatically accept large deposits are being targeted. The fraudster deposits Bitcoin Gold into an account at an exchange, where coins are traded. Once the exchange credits the Bitcoin Gold to the attacker’s account, the attacker trades those coins for another cryptocurrency and withdraws it. The attacker can repeatedly make deposits of the same Bitcoin Gold it deposited in the first exchange and profit in this way.
A bunch of other cryptocurrencies have been attacked in similar ways recently. Something called Verge has been hit twice in the last two months, leading to $2.7 million being stolen. The exotic-sounding coins Monacoin and Electroneum have also suffered from 51% attacks not too long ago.
[snip]
Another reason why crypto currency has drawbacks:
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/11/investing/coinrail-hack-bitcoin-exchange/index.html