The emergence of Bitcoin as a currency choice for luxury real estate

In contrast to all expectations when it was first introduced, Bitcoin is currently emerging as a powerful, go-to form of currency – especially when it comes to transactions within high-end luxury markets.

Rebounding from its initial appearance on the global financial stage, when it was roundly dismissed and conventional wisdom expected it to fizzle out, Bitcoin’s fortunes have recently started to surge. In fact, current estimates suggest that Bitcoin as a currency has up to 10 million unique users and, with usage continuing to increase, the sky may very well be the limit for this cryptocurrency and others like it.

In particular, Bitcoin has started to gain more and more traction because of its specific suitability as a payment method for truly big-ticket luxury items, such as highly valuable pieces of art and luxurious real estate properties. Going forward, the prospects for further Bitcoin growth look extremely favourable, as more and more luxury purchasers and investors begin to recognise the positive effects it can bring to complex asset transfer processes.

Explaining Bitcoin’s increasing viability for the luxury marketplace

There are several reasons why Bitcoin has been able to dramatically transform its image from a flawed currency instrument into an acceptable and even desirable type of money. These include factors such as Bitcoin’s convenience, its growing adoption by certain Asian indexes and its portability and speed of movement, due to its freedom from traditional monetary regulations.

While all of these elements certainly have contributed to the increasing ascendancy of Bitcoin, there is one specific benefit that it offers that has made it irresistibly attractive to buyers of high-end, luxury products, such as artwork, yachts, private jets and property. In a nutshell, Bitcoin significantly reduces, and even virtually does away with, the hefty transaction fees and middleman costs that are customarily associated with purchases involving large sums of currency.

Basically, most financial institutions, including large banking houses, brokerages, credit card companies and financial networks, traditionally charge their customers for the movement of funds from one account to another, in transactions that can vary from wire transfers to the implementation of other payment instrument. The percentage-based transaction fees levied on most monetary payments only grow in accordance with the size of the purchase. Not surprisingly, on large-scale transactions, these fees can end up being quite substantial, if not prohibitively expensive.

For example, if someone were to buy a painting or an automobile for €100,000, the wire transfer costs associated with this transaction could reach up to €4,000. Now, imagine if we were to talk about purchases involving millions of Euros. The fees would expand exponentially. This comes into play when dealing with truly significant investments, such as such as Old Master paintings or luxury real estate. For instance, the transaction costs associated with the recent sale of the Da Vinci masterpiece Salvator Mundi, which fetched $450 million (close to €382 million), must have been simply astronomical.

It is in this area that Bitcoin revolutionises asset transfer. Because with Bitcoin, a typical transaction fee on a million-euro purchase would be considerably less. The savings that this represents to luxury purchasers cannot be underestimated. And, more and more, investors are taking notice and switching over to Bitcoin. This is a fact that we are seeing reflected across the international financial sphere, but particularly within the luxury marketplace and high-end real estate.

St Tropez House to accept Bitcoin

St Tropez House’s ethos has always been to deploy the latest, cutting-edge innovations in technology and financial practice, in order to assure our clients the best service, price points and real estate portfolios. In keeping with this philosophy and approach, St Tropez House is pleased to announce that we are now accepting Bitcoin as a form of currency for St Tropez villa rental transactions commissions or luxury villa rentals on the Cote D’Azur commissions.

With this move, St Tropez House continues our commitment to remaining at the vanguard of financial and technical developments within the high-end real estate marketplace, to make sure that our clients reap the benefits of the latest advances.

So, now, when you are ready to close on a magnificent villa in Saint Tropez or throughout the Cote d’Azur, you’ll have the ability to utilise Bitcoin as a currency choice to complete your transaction. While not everyone might be quite ready to embrace Bitcoin, it’s good to know that, should you choose to go that way, St Tropez House, for one, gives you that option.