Bitcoin enters realm home buying

Source: The Stamford Advocate, Conn.自存倉Dec. 30--Some may consider it an attention-grabbing stunt, but a Stamford man was serious when he told his real estate agent he would accept bitcoins as payment for his Southampton, N.Y., house that's up for sale.Philipp Preuss said he mulled selling the 1,800-square-foot ranch after moving from New York City to Stamford two years ago and put it on the market in October."I've followed bitcoins closely since May. I believe bitcoins will be around for a long time. I'm not saying it will replace the U.S. dollar. But I think the younger generations will buy into it," said Preuss, an institutional equities salesman for the New York City office of a U.K. stock brokerage firm. "I'm extending the base of buyers (for the house). It might appeal to international and younger buyers."Amadeus Ehrhardt, the broker representing theAmadeus Ehrhardt, the broker representing the four-bedroom, two-bath house, said he has heard of bitcoin, but after doing some due diligence he found two other houses on the market that may also be bought with the digital currency, in Oregon and Las Vegas."He (Preuss) contacted me two weeks ago and ran it by me," said Ehrhardt, an agent with Brown Harris Stevens in the Hamptons. "I think he opened his buyer base a little."'WHAT'S PAYPAL?'Noting that bitcoin is considered an international online currency, Ehrhardt said properties in the Hamptons on Long Island often attract foreign buyers."If anything, it will attract attention. I think it's forward thinking. Ten years ago, people said 'what's PayPal?' It's a currency that will make life easier for some people," said Erhardt, who has shown the house to a number of visitors who like its proximity to the private dock on Big Fresh Pond across the road. "I haven't had anyone come to the house because they want to pay for it with bitcoin."Preuss, of course, would gladly accept a traditional payment for the house, which is currently listed for $799,000, but the idea of getting paid in bitcoins is fun."I'd go for the bitcoin exchange rate on the day of the closing. It's cutting out the bank so there won't be a fee," he said. "I'd be excited if I do (get a bitcoin offer).迷你倉出租It's not the best time to sell a house at the beach."The idea of accepting bitcoin for a house makes Barb McKee, president of the Greenwich Association of Realtors, a bit uneasy because the federal government is still studying the currency.HARD TO DEFINE:Last month, Edward Lowery, the special agent in charge of the Criminal Investigative Division of the Secret Service, said digital currencies like bitcoin could operate within U.S. laws. But federal officials said they still had questions whether a bitcoin is a currency, a commodity or a security.The Internal Revenue Service is working on its own rules for bitcoin."The problem is nobody knows what bitcoins really are. I don't think we know enough yet," said McKee, a real estate agent with Shore & Country Properties in Greenwich.She said she has never encountered a client who considered payment in bitcoins.WINKLEVII SUPPORT:But former Greenwich natives Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are believers that paying for a house or other items using bitcoins could someday be an every-day option.The brothers, who own a venture capital business that procures seed funding for start-up companies, are investors in Bitcoin, accumulating about 1 percent of the 12 million bitcoins in circulation, according to Forbes.In July, they filed an application to the Securities and Exchange Commission to create the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust.The value of a Bitcoin has varied wildly in the past year, rising from $13 a year ago to $1,240 at the start of the month, Forbes reported. It was at $706 in late afternoon trading Thursday on Mt. Gox, a Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange.In a commentary this week on Business Insider, Mark T. Williams, a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner and teacher of finance at Boston University's School of Management, predicted Bitcoin will trade for less than $10 by the first half of 2014, calling it a "a risky virtual commodity bet" rather than a currency.The New York Times News Service and Bloomberg News contributed to this story.rlee@scni.com; 203 964 2236Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Advocate (Stamford, Conn.) Visit The Advocate (Stamford, Conn.) at .stamfordadvocate.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉