In a move that combines luxury real estate with digital innovation, Christie’s International Real Estate has launched a new division dedicated to digital-asset-based property transactions.
The company now has reportedly over $1 billion worth of high-end homes for sale that can be bought with digital currencies like bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) – no banks required.
The new division, based in Los Angeles and led by top real estate broker Aaron Kirman, is modernizing how wealthy clients buy and sell property. “Crypto is here to stay,” Kirman said in an interview. “It’s only going to get bigger over the next few years.”
The division was reportedly born out of a high-profile deal where a $65 million Beverly Hills mansion was sold entirely with digital assets. That transaction proved there was real demand among bitcoin-wealthy buyers for discreet, bank-free real estate deals.
The $65 million sale showed that ultra-wealthy clients are now willing to use bitcoin for real-world high-value deals.
Now, Christie’s has assembled a team of legal experts, analysts and financial advisors to support these transactions.
The process allows both buyers and sellers to do deals peer-to-peer, meaning they can use digital wallets to send and receive payment without ever going through a traditional bank.
One of the biggest benefits of using bitcoin in real estate is privacy. Many buyers in this space are celebrities, tech entrepreneurs or digital asset investors who want to remain anonymous.
To help with that, Christie’s encourages buyers to use LLCs (Limited Liability Companies) that are funded directly with digital assets.
That makes it harder to trace who owns a property. In some cases, sellers never even meet the buyers in person. Instead, attorneys handle all verification and compliance procedures. Bitcoin provides the privacy and speed that’s essential in the luxury market.
The new division’s property portfolio includes some of the most expensive homes in the U.S., all available to bitcoin investors.
While bitcoin can be wild, Christie’s uses real-time price feeds and escrow services to reduce risk for both buyers and sellers. The team also does legal checks to make sure the source of funds is clean, in an effort to comply with financial regulations.
Regulators are starting to pay attention. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has told Fannie Mae (The Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) to start treating digital assets as an option for mortgage qualification.
The GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act are also helping create rules for using digital currency in transactions.
In the meantime, Christie’s is talking to major banks to develop bitcoin-backed mortgages where homebuyers can use their digital assets as collateral.
