Bitcoin appears to be one of the buzzwords for 2017. Now that we are early in 2018 it appears this and other crypto-currencies are here to stay.
If you are a holder of bitcoin or any other crypto-currencies can you use them for property purchases? Well let’s talk for a moment in a general sense about the crypto currency phenomenon.
Can Bitcoin itself be called a commodity in the sense of property?
Most property markets show a steady rise or fall in the 10-percentile per annum whilst Bitcoin shows similar movements in a minute of minutes or even seconds.
With all the negativity currently surrounding Bitcoin (along with a steady stream on seemingly endless negative news) you might be right to ask how exactly is the price being propped up? Firstly Bitcoin is not a currency in the normal sense of the word; it is mainly being used as a commodity to be traded rather than a currency to be used for payment.
For many it seems that investing in Bitcoin (or any other crypto currency such as Ethereum, Litecoin, or Ripple) is more about the ‘regret it if I don’t factor’. These currencies have made some people very wealthy (I just read an article on BBC about a person who made about £400k from a Bitcoin investment many years ago and has used it to fund their own startup) and very few people have lost their shirt…just yet…but the warnings are out there.
The effect of this is that many are saying if I don’t get in now I will forever regret it and my kids will be asking why I didn’t. Then another group who have invested and made some money are afraid to leave in case it keeps going up! Where will it all end? Ask the crypto-experts when they start making themselves known.
Back to our original question:
Your crypto-currency can very quickly be transferred back to any mainstream currency (though you will almost always find it defaulted back to the US dollar) and then of course you can use it to buy property. Just make sure you have paid tax on any gains you have made on the crypto-currency….or do you have to? Well that’s another article right there….
Find more information about Bitcoin in these books: