Got $1 million in bitcoins burning a hole in your pocket?
If so, Red Deer realtor Bryce Kander has the house for you. He has just listed his former family home on 3.3 acres in Gasoline Alley for a cool $1 million — bitcoins accepted.
That makes it the largest property up for grabs for bitcoins in Canada.
For the uninitiated, bitcoins are an unregulated digital currency that has been around since 2009. While some currency watchers have warned against them, bitcoins have been gathering growing acceptance from retailers.
According to Payments.com, there are 80,000 bitcoin transactions daily worth about US$250 million.
Kander takes the currency’s unproven track record in stride.
“Basically, it’s going to go to zero or it’s going to go to $1 million.”
His ad on Kijiji was placed a few days ago and since then he and his mother Penny Kander — the property’s owner and a local realtor with 34 year’s of experience — have fielded about half a dozen calls.
Kander said the bitcoin offer isn’t just an advertising gimmick.
“It’s for real,” he said. “It’s not your typical person who’s going to buy this particular piece of property.”
If a $1 million bitcoin offer comes in, his mother intends to convert most of it into standard currency but hold on to $50,000 as an investment.
The bitcoin price will be based on the day of the offer at current value rates as determined to the Canadian virtual exchange based on a weighted price of 12 hours.
The two-storey home is 2,410 square feet and is located just north of Costco. It was built in 1985 and has four bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The knock on bitcoins is that since it is not backed by any central bank or other regulator, its value is vulnerable to wild fluctuations. Its value has jumped 9,000 per cent over the last year.
For instance, the value of bitcoins dropped almost a third before recovering somewhat on Thursday when China’s central bank banned its financial institutions from trading in bitcoins.
On the other side of the ledger, a Wall Street currency analyst backed bitcoins on Thursday.
Bitcoins were worth about $1,000 on Friday.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com