Forget cutting checks to pay for rent. On both coasts, several tech-forward real estate companies have begun accepting digital currency for rental deposits and payments, coinciding with the growing general interest in, and value of, these new electronic payment systems.
On the West Coast, Hubilu Venture Corporation, a real estate asset management company which buys student housing and investment property around the University of Southern California (USC) campus, announced today it will accept rental payments in bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash and litecoin–all popular digital currencies.
Hubilu said it would use the Coinbase digital currency exchange for processing the cryptocurrency in their “respective blockchains.” Blockchains are the computer-based ledgers that record who owns how much of a given cyptocurrency, and keep a running tally of transactions made with each currency.
Hubilu CEO, David Behrend, said in a press statement that, “we know the importance of digital payment systems and believe in the long term adoption of cryptocurrency.”
Meanwhile across the country in Brooklyn, New York, tech-savvy brokerage Brookliv has begun accepting bitcoin for rental deposits, according to science and tech publication Inverse. The company reportedly has been accepting digital currency rental payments from three tenants already.
Brookliv broker Ari Weber told Inverse that his company made the decision to accept payment via digital currency to appeal to his young rental base and as a way to stand out in a crowded market.
Inverse also flagged that online rental payment platform, ManageGo is accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrency for rent payments, although it is taking on the responsibility of converting the cryptocurrency into US dollars before putting it into property manager client accounts.
Will other brokerages, landlords, and property holding companies follow suit in accepting digital currency for rent? That remains to be seen, but it’s probably a safer bet than buying into the currencies themselves.