purchase

Apartment Sold for Bitcoin in Portugal After New Regulation Allows Property Deals in Crypto

08/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

An apartment in Portugal has changed hands, with the buyer paying directly in cryptocurrency in a reported first for the country. The home was purchased for 3 bitcoins without conversion to euros, under a new regulation permitting real estate deals with digital currencies.

Buyer Pays With Bitcoin for Apartment in Braga, Portugal

A three-room (two-bedroom) apartment in the Portuguese city of Braga has been bought with cryptocurrency without any conversion to fiat money. Local media reports have described the deal as a first in the history of the country’s real estate market.

The new owner paid 3 bitcoins (BTC) for the home, worth around 110,000 euros at the time the purchase took place. The title deed was transferred in Porto’s Póvoa de Varzim district this past Thursday, May 5, the business news portal Idealista unveiled.

The purchase was made with the help of real estate agency Zome, the law firm Antas da Cunha Ecija, and partners from Switzerland’s Crypto Valley. The Chairman of the Portuguese chamber of notaries also participated.

Buying property directly with cryptocurrency is now possible in Portugal thanks to a new provision recently adopted by the Order of Notaries, the body which regulates notary activities together with the Ministry of Justice.

In the past, the coins had to be converted to euros before a payment to a seller was made. Now, the real estate acquisition can be a 100% crypto operation, in which the digital money is exchanged for the rights to the property.

Certain procedures must be followed to conduct such sales, to comply with anti-money laundering rules. The source of the fiat funds — a bank account — with which the digital assets were purchased, has to be indicated and the public address of the crypto wallet presented, before the coins are transferred.

News of the crypto-funded property deal comes after a recent report by the Bank of Spain revealed that Portugal’s share in the volume of crypto transactions in the eurozone exceeds the weight of its gross domestic product (GDP) in the single currency area’s economy.

With relatively affordable costs of living and a crypto-friendly tax regime, Portugal has become a hub for tech innovations, a home for digital nomads and most recently for refugees from Ukraine’s crypto sector. Gains from the sale of bitcoin and the like are not subject to income tax in the country.

Do you expect other European nations to allow real estate purchases through direct cryptocurrency payments? Let us know in the comments section below.

Porsche to Sell Exclusive Design Sketch as Non-Fungible Token

04/08/2021 by Idelto Editor

Porsche has announced its first NFT auction following the recent launch of the token-based Fanzone platform. The German high-performance car maker will sell a unique design sketch as part of the pilot project. The proceeds will be used to fund a noble cause.

Porsche to Auction NFT of New Design by Peter Varga

German sports car manufacturer Porsche is launching a pilot project for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Between Aug. 2 and 6, collectors and fans will be able to participate in an auction to buy an exclusive design sketch by Porsche Director of Exterior Design Peter Varga as an NFT, the auto company said. Quoted in a press release, Varga commented:

Drawing a design sketch which is then traded online as a digital object was a completely new experience for me.

The designer revealed that the sketch combines the Taycan Cross Turismo with the 911. “It links the design language of our iconic sports car with that of the youngest member of the model range. I look forward to seeing the response generated by this unique item among the auction participants,” Peter Varga added.

The drawing will be offered in both digital and physical form. Funds raised at the auction, which will be carried out on the U.S. digital art marketplace Superrare, will be donated to Viva con Agua. The Hamburg-based non-profit organization is working to ensure global access to clean drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene, supporting water projects in places such as Uganda and South Africa.

Alexander Pollich, the chief executive of Porsche Deutschland, said the main target of the NFT initiative is Porsche customers that he described as “often passionate collectors” as well as younger people who have “a high affinity for digital trends.” Pollich expressed satisfaction that the project is part of Porsche’s internal innovation process, adding:

With the NFT initiative, we are once again demonstrating the pioneering spirit typical of Porsche, with which we are always boldly entering new terrain.

The NFT project is being implemented with the help of Fanzone, a Berlin-headquartered startup founded in June by the car maker’s Porsche Digital GmbH subsidiary. The new company operates an online platform where fans can collect and exchange digital player cards as NFTs using blockchain technology to ensure the items are unique. Holders can also profit from the potentially rising value of their tokens, Porsche noted.

What do you think about Porsche’s NFT initiative? Let us know in the comments section below.

New Visa Card Allows Bakkt Users to Spend Bitcoin in Stores and Online

25/06/2021 by Idelto Editor

Customers using the Bakkt app can now apply for a debit card which will enable them to pay with bitcoin at merchants that don’t currently take crypto. The virtual Visa card can be added to Apple Pay or Google Pay to purchase items at thousands of retailers supporting the mobile payment systems.

Bakkt Card Can Be Linked to Apple Pay and Google Pay

This year’s all-time highs convinced many to invest in cryptocurrencies but digital assets still have a lot of ground to cover to achieve wide adoption in everyday payments. Debit cards issued by crypto companies bridge the gap between bitcoin and merchants that are yet to start accepting digital coins. Now there is a new offering in the market. Crypto marketplace Bakkt has launched a debit Visa card that “will maximize users’ ability to spend digital assets.” The card allows Bakkt customers to use their bitcoin (BTC) and fiat cash (USD) balances to buy goods and services, both online and in-store.

Bakkt Card allows users to use bitcoin for online and in-store purchases, expanding utility of cryptocurrency. #BakktCard https://t.co/OHz0cPUHgE

— Bakkt (@Bakkt) June 22, 2021

The card can be used through the popular Apple Pay or Google Pay mobile wallets which opens the door to thousands of retailers around the world. Commenting on the announcement, Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael pointed out:

Our goal first and foremost is to offer more choice for consumers, and the Bakkt Card untethers bitcoin owners from their online-only past into a world with countless options to leverage the digital assets in their day-to-day lives.

Users Can Order the Visa Card via Bakkt App

Instead of selling their crypto and waiting for a bank transfer, Bakkt users can now walk into a store, tap their Bakkt Card and pay for the item they want to purchase, Gavin Michael elaborated. The executive added that selected customers will soon be able to take advantage of the same payment option using their rewards points.

The Bakkt crypto card is issued by Sutton Bank, a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, pursuant to a license from Visa USA Inc. To obtain a virtual Visa, users will have to apply via the Bakkt wallet app. The platform says it’s “enabling this real-world spending, alongside the ability to invest in and hold bitcoin with no transaction fees.”

While Bakkt doesn’t charge a fee per transaction, it does sell BTC to its customers at a price higher than their “computed market price,” the company explained in a press release. “Our spread for bitcoin purchases will be no more than 1.5% throughout 2021,” Bakkt revealed in the announcement.

Are you using a crypto debit card and if so, which one? Let us know in the comments section below.

Lloyds Auctions Australia Sells a Pricey Caravan for Cryptocurrency

23/06/2021 by Idelto Editor

Australia’s Lloyds Auctions now accepts major cryptocurrencies for any of the items offered on its marketplace. Within hours of the announcement, the auction house managed to sell an expensive caravan (camper/trailer) to a bidder who was happy to pay the full price with digital coins.

Australian Auction House Lloyds Auctions Accepts Crypto From Bidders

Against a backdrop of volatile crypto markets in the past days and weeks, investors have been on the lookout for ways to cash out profits or transfer some of their wealth elsewhere. Lloyds Auctions, a leading auction house in Australia, has spotted an opportunity to attract some of these funds, offering bidders the chance to pay with cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH).

Mere hours after opening the alternative payment option, Lloyds Auctions was able to sell a $75,000 custom-built caravan for crypto. “As a long-time patron of Lloyds I had no hesitation and couldn’t believe how simple it was for me to pay with cryptocurrency,” the eager buyer was quoted by Zdnet as saying. “The seller would have received it as cash and never known the difference!”

Crypto Holders Want to Buy Oldtimers and Bulldozers

Since the caravan sale, the auction house has been registering a growing interest from other crypto holders, especially towards its classic cars and earthmoving machinery auctions. Inquiries have been pouring in, said Lloyds Auctions Chief Operations Officer, Lee Hames, who also commented:

We have seen people using this as a way of divesting out of cryptocurrency and back into real life assets. As prices drop people are taking some profits off the table and transferring it to something like a classic car or bulldozer and putting it to work.

Lloyds Auctions has also decided that blockchain is the best way to prove ownership of a set of negatives capturing moments in Australia’s history. Earlier in June, the auction house announced it was minting a non-fungible token (NFT) for a collection of original glass plate negatives from over 140 years of operation of the Rose Stereograph Company. The highest bidder at the auction will also receive the NFT.

Have you bought auction items using cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below.

Q1 SEC Filing Shows Argentinian Tech Giant Globant Invested in Bitcoin

29/05/2021 by Idelto Editor

Globant, one of the big four tech firms in Argentina, has quietly made its first foray into the world of cryptocurrency investing, according to its latest filing to the SEC. The firm bought bitcoin during the first three months of this year, and is now part of a select number of LATAM unicorns that have taken the approach of putting some of its value in crypto assets.

Globant Invests in Cryptocurrency

Globant, a software tech giant unicorn based in Argentina, has joined a select group of companies that are currently invested in cryptocurrencies, according to its latest filing to the SEC. The company, founded in 2003, reported the purchase of $500,000 in bitcoin (BTC) during the first quarter of 2021 (Q1). A small sum for a company with a valuation of more than $6.5 billion and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Globant listed the bitcoin company as part of its intangible assets, saying bitcoin is:

A cryptocurrency that is considered to be an indefinite-lived intangible asset because bitcoin lacks physical form and there is no limit to its useful life, bitcoin is not subject to amortization but it is tested for impairment.

The filing states Globant purchased the aforementioned worth of bitcoin, but doesn’t specify the number of bitcoins that were purchased or the price the company paid for them. However, the filing does clarify that Globant will recognize impairment losses if the price of the assets falls behind the price of acquisition, and gains will not be recorded until the sale of the asset.

While some USA-based companies like Microstrategy and Tesla, and asset managers like Grayscale have been quick to jump into the cryptocurrency bandwagon, its LATAM-based counterparts have had a more tepid approach to this new asset class. This might be related to how quickly these companies embrace innovation and how they manage the risk vs opportunity balance due to their own business models.

Argentinian Companies Have Started to Embrace Crypto

However, Globant is not the first Argentinian company that has made inroads with cryptocurrency. Mercadolibre, an e-tailer company that has a big footprint in LATAM, bought $7.8 million in bitcoin this month, declaring it as part of their treasury strategy, potentially hinting at more bitcoin purchases down the road. Mercadolibre also launched a real estate platform that only accepts bitcoin as payment.

More LATAM-based companies, and specifically Argentinian ones, are expected to embrace crypto as part of their business strategy soon, due to the devaluation of the national currency and the difficulties that they face in acquiring dollars.

What do you think of Globant’s purchase of cryptocurrencies? Tell us in the comments section below.