Latin American real estate platform La Haus has made its first home sale for bitcoin two months after it announced it would start accepting the peer-to-peer currency as payment for property sales in Colombia and Mexico.
A Peruvian woman exchanged 5.78 BTC for an exclusive apartment located in one of the most highly valued areas of the city of Tulum, Mexico's Riviera Maya, the company announced on Wednesday.
“One of the aspects that most seduced us when incorporating this payment method, in addition to the ease it represents, was the possibility of breaking down geographical barriers,” Jehudi Castro, VP of innovation and future at La Haus, said. “This not only makes us proud, but also shows that the way we buy a home is changing. Not only do we do it digitally, breaking geographical barriers, but now we do it by breaking monetary boundaries.”
El Colombiano reported that the purchase value did not need to be converted to fiat currency as the receiving party decided to keep the bitcoin. The exchange was made through Palais, a project carried out in Tulum by real estate developer Rivieralty, who partnered with La Haus to be able to sell the property for bitcoin.
La Haus said it expects to close the first home sale for BTC in Colombia in the coming weeks as it expands the number of properties available for purchase with the new payment method there.
In November, La Haus announced it would start accepting bitcoin for its real estate sales through a partnership with payment processing provider OpenNode, which has now borne fruit as the company is able to receive BTC on-chain and on the Lightning Network.
“Real estate purchases are another perfect use case for Bitcoin, a global payment network designed to optimize the transfer of value,” said Kevin Adekayode, OpenNode’s head of operations, when La Haus announced it would begin accepting payments in bitcoin. “We are delighted to be working with La Haus, a forward-thinking company not content to settle for the status quo.”