Man Lists Bungalow for Bitcoins
Taylor More is selling his family's bungalow with an asking price of $405,000 (that's Canadian dollars) or 5,521 Bitcoins. He would rather have the Bitcoins.
The two bedroom room and one bath bungalow in Alberta, Canada, sits on 2.9 acres of land along the Crowsnest River. That part of the deal is easy to understand. Why More wants Bitcoins isn't.
"I just really believe in them and once I read my first article about them, I was hooked," said More, who is 22 and said he used to be a currency trader. "I can take control of my own money, I don't have to worry about the government stepping in and taking it and freezing my account."
Bitcoins are digital currency. One Bitcoin is equal to $72.50. There are no actual coins, but they have been growing in their use. Stores like Walmart even sell gift cards for Bitcoins.
"I have a few ventures that I am working on that involves Bitcoins and I am going to need a lot of Bitcoins to do them. I thought this might help Bitcoin gain some ground, once people see that you can actually buy a piece of property or a physical tangible thing," said More.
More would not specifically tell ABC News what he was working on, but did say, "Bitcoins are rather hard to get your hands on."
More's listing has only been up for a few days and there has yet to be an offer, but he is hoping that the media attention will help. "If someone had a partial payment in Bitcoins, I would be willing to negotiate, but I wouldn't turn down somebody who had cash," More said.
Charlie Shrem, CEO of BitInstant, a payment processor for Bitcoin exchanges and other merchants, describes the digital money as "both the currency unit and the payment system… It's as if cash had wings and it could fly."
"I think it would be great," Shrem said of More's real estate offer. "It would be a private transaction. He can sell his house to anyone in the world, it doesn't have to be from Canada, and it won't cost anything to move that money."