Idealista plans to accept BTC as payment for an apartment in Barcelona

Idealista, a renowned Spanish real estate platform, is offering an apartment in Barcelona for sale in Bitcoin (BTC). The agency unveiled this news through a news release on February 22, noting that anyone interested in the property must pay using BTC. Reportedly, Idealista teamed up with Inviertis and Kasaz to acquire the technology that supports this property listing.

According to the press release, the apartment is located in the Ciutat Vella neighborhood, which is a few meters from Rambla Cataluña, in the center of Barcelona. The property is going for 3.5 BTC (approximately £113,732.33). However, the buyer must pay the taxes, notary, and registration fees in euros. Explaining why, the entire sum cannot be paid in BTC, the agency said that everything slows down when administrations take over.

The real estate sector continues embracing crypto

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Per the news release, Idealista’s offering will be the first of its kind in the country, seeing as interested buyers will have to make all arrangements online. However, it is not the first property sale in Spain, that accepted BTC as payment. In 2018, Mister Piso, another real estate agency, completed Spain’s first-ever BTC real estate transaction. However, the deal, unlike Idealista’s, was mostly traditional, with the only peculiarity being that the agency accepted payment in BTC. Reportedly, the rest of the processes in the transaction were paper-based.

This news comes as the real estate industry continues warming up to crypto payments. For instance, Antalya Homes, a Turkish real estate agency, sold nine properties in BTC two years ago. In 2019, leading Australian property developer, Linzen Property Group, also offered investors across the globe a chance to purchase prime real estate in Brisbane using BTC. The property in question is Dakabin Crossing, which spans 3.75 hectares. Reportedly, the company sought to accept BTC for 40 housing units in the residential community.