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Billionaire Calvin Ayre is Building a $100m Bitcoin Cash Resort in Antigua

Adam James · @Shasdam | Feb 19, 2018 | 09:45

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Soon, wealthy tourists looking to live large in the Caribbean will be able to reserve rooms at controversial billionaire Calvin Ayre’s resort in Antigua — if you’ve got the Bitcoin Cash.

A ‘Novel and Exciting Concept’

The billionaire founder of the Ayre Group and the Bodog entertainment brand, Calvin Ayre, is reportedly building a $100 million five-star resort on Antigua’s Valley Church beach — funded entirely by profits made from investments in digital currencies.

The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, is excited by the news, as the islands have long been supportive of cryptocurrency. Browne says of the project:

We expect the resort’s novel and exciting concept to broaden Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism product and bring a new category of tourists to our islands. We look forward to working with Mr Ayre on this resort and the many other investments he has made in Antigua.

Calvin Ayre, officially known as “his excellency” on the Caribbean islands where he holds the title of special economic envoy, says:

This resort will attract a totally new market segment of tourism on the island — successful wellness-seekers who also want to have fun. The property will not be an all-inclusive destination. Instead, its amenities will be available to residents of Antigua and Barbuda and visitors alike.

Bring Your Bcash

Unsurprisingly, Ayre’s resort will accept Bitcoin Cash at point-of-sale terminals on the property.

Unaffectionately known as Bcash, the controversial cryptocurrency forked from Bitcoin on August 1st, 2017, and has sparked debate amongst cryptocurrency enthusiasts ever since — with some calling it a get-rich-quick scheme primarily profiting from the unnecessary confusion of others by co-opting the Bitcoin brand.

Ayre and Bcash bull Roger Ver are arguably the two biggest proponents of the forked cryptocurrency, claiming the Bcash blockchain is vastly superior to all other blockchains — despite little evidence to support such a claim.

Of course, Ayre himself is no stranger to controversy.

In 2012, Ayre and three other individuals were indicted by the US Attorney for Maryland on charges of illegal gambling and money laundering, leading to the billionaire evading authorities for nearly a decade.

In 2017, however, Ayre got off easy by pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor charge, while the remaining felony charges against him were dropped. According to Forbes, Ayre never came to the US to face the charges.

Would you be interested in spending cryptocurrency while on vacation in the Caribbean? Would you prefer that such cryptocurrency wasn’t Bcash? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitcoinist archives.