The internet has been given a fantastic opportunity: watching the head of a major company slowly transform from bitcoin skeptic to bitcoin zealot. It is a transistion many of the Bitcoin faithful admit to going through themselves, but it is nonetheless fascinating watching the CEO of Zillow and boardmember of TripAdvisor, Spencer Rascoff, go through his own transformation.
Zillow is one of the most visited real estate websites in America, while TripAdvisor is exactly what it sounds like: booking information and reviews for flights, hotels and restaurants.
Spencer Rascoff previously expressed concerns about Bitcoin on Bloomberg TV and CNBC, calling it “shady” but slowly changed his tune. Back in March of this year, Rascoff actually purchased some bitcoin was clearly interested in the digital currency.
Now, as the Emperor would say, Rascoff's transformation to the darkside is complete. Yesterday, he took to Twitter to express his complete conversion from bitcoin skeptic to bitcoin believer.
But more importantly, now I believe in bticoin's potential, with the zealotry of a convert. @SaraEisen
— Spencer Rascoff (@spencerrascoff) August 6, 2014
First, Rasvoff stated that he agreed with CNBC's financial journalist Sara Eisen that Bitcoin was a good buy at the moment. Eisen, who had appeared with Rascoff on CNBC when Rascoff was a skeptic. Asked if this meant he was now a believer in the currency. Rascoff stated that he now believes in Bitcoin “with the zealotry of a convert” then later went onto say his opinion had evolved significantly since he last talked about Bitcoin with Eisen.
Lots of good ideas come from being on-air w/ @saraEisen ("buy bitcoin") & @carlquintanilla @jimcramer ("buy @streeteasy @trulia")
— Spencer Rascoff (@spencerrascoff) August 6, 2014
His belief in bitcoin's potential comes despite it not making him much money yet. As Rascoff also pointed out to Eisen, he first bought bitcoins in March for USD $630, considering the current price of USD $590, ($579 at the time of his tweet) he is still in the red.
.@SaraEisen That was on March 11. Bitcoin was ~630 then, and ~579 now. So I'm in the red.
— Spencer Rascoff (@spencerrascoff) August 6, 2014
At the time of his Bitcoin purchase, Zillow was quick to point out that Spencer Rascoff's interest in Bitcoin was a personal one and it did not indicate that the company was planning to accept digital currencies. The is likely still the case, but with the head of the company prophesying bitcoin to the masses, it will be interesting to see how long Zillow before Zillow jumps on board as well.
As a real estate company, there would be numerous hoops to jump through for legal and tax compliance in order for Zillow to act as a Bitcoin escrow for real estate, but it certainly is possible to buy real estate with Bitcoin.
We will keep an eye on Zillow's bitcoin policy and report any updates.
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