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- A penthouse in Miami is selling for the equivalent of about $547,000.
- The seller is only accepting bitcoin.
- Bitcoin has surged more than 1,500% this year.
For 33 bitcoins, this "spectacular" penthouse in Miami could be yours.
That was about $547,000 on Wednesday.
The one bedroom, 1.5 bathroom apartment is listed on a number of real estate portals including Redfin, Remax, and Coldwell Banker.
"PRICE? ONLY ACEPTING (sic.) BITCOIN," the listing said. Since Redfin doesn't yet list properties in bitcoin, the $33 listing price fell below its minimum-price threshold and, the apartment was not available for a tour.
According to public records on Redfin, it was last sold in January 2016 for $315,000 and has gained about 7.4% every year since then. Justino Ferret, the agent on the property, told Business Insider that the buyer is only accepting bitcoin.
The cryptocurrency has surged more than 1,500% this year against the US dollar as it gained popularity with Wall Street and retail investors.
On Tuesday, Joseph Borg, a securities regulator, told CNBC that he had seen mortgages being taken out to buy bitcoin. Borg likely was specifically referring to a home equity line of credit, which allows existing homeowners to loan from their property's equity for other purposes. The idea of using a house as an ATM machine grew in popularity as the housing bubble peaked in the mid-2000's.
Storing home equity in bitcoins is not advisable, said Nela Richardson, the chief economist at Redfin.
"We think this home for sale is more of a rare event than the start of a larger trend," she added.
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