Elon Musk strikes again! Via Yahoo! Money we receive the story of Kyle Seyboth, a Rhode Island realtor. He accepted 160,000 DOGE, “worth about $50,000 (or around $0.31 per digital coin) at the time” for a plot of land. While the people involved in the Real Estate deal sorted out the contracts, DOGE went to the moon. His client was a very happy person, as the coins were now worth, “$116,000 (or around $0.72 per digital coin).”
And then, Elon happened. The billionaire went on Saturday Night Live, mentioned that DOGE is “a hustle*,” and the price plummeted.
“That was one of the risks — that he could be in the position that he has to take his lumps,” Seyboth told Yahoo Money of the seller’s land-for-doge deal. “But he’s an investor and pretty astute. And in his opinion, he wanted to lock the contract with the potential for the currency to go up and get more money.”
Related Reading | By The Numbers: DOGE Achieves The Impossible, New ATH with BTC Pair
When they signed the papers, ”the 160,000 dogecoins were worth $63,520 (or around $0.40 per digital coin).” As a curious fact, the buyer was also a developer and plans to build a house there and sell the whole thing. Seyboth thinks that the real estate market is in bad shape, so every possible solution is welcomed:
“There’s not a lot of supply, and investors are struggling with supply to sell. Crypto has been a good type of offset.”
DOGE price chart on BinanceUS | Source: DOGE/USD on TradingView.com
Cryptocurrencies And The Real Estate Market
Of course, the healthiness of the crypto market is the one in question these last few weeks. It’s hard to believe that a month ago business was booming. Quoting another Yahoo! Money report:
Last month, there were 71 listings that mentioned crypto or bitcoin in their descriptions on the real estate listing site. That’s 14.3 listings per 100,000 homes, the highest rate on record, according to the data.
The previous high occurred in March 2018, during cryptocurrency’s last peak in popularity and prices. At that point, Realtor.com saw 12.7 listings per 100,000 homes.
Related Reading | Dogecoin Explodes 1,100% in GameStop-Like Copycat Rally
These facts echo in other parts of the world. A couple of weeks ago MercadoLibre, Latin America’s biggest e-commerce site, disclosed Bitcoin in their balance sheet. In that article, Bitcoinist reported on their experiments in Argentina, pricing properties in cryptocurrencies.
However, the move might be part of a bigger plan. The company recently opened a section on their website dedicated to real estate commerce in Bitcoin and Bitcoin only. The pilot program includes 75 properties and 7 real estate agencies willing to accept the cryptocurrency.
Nevermind Elon. The fact is, cryptocurrencies are here to stay. And, at the moment, volatility comes with them. Expect wild rides and rollercoasters for a while. This is just getting started.
Featured Image by Sigmund on Unsplash - Charts by TradingView
- CORRECTED 05/22 – A previous version of this story said Elon Musk called Dogecoin “a scam,” when in fact he said “a hustle.”