A West Coast branch of the luxury firm Christie’s International Real Estate has made history by becoming the first major U.S. brokerage to open a division dedicated to cryptocurrency-only transactions.
The high-end brokerage unveiled the new unit, staffed with lawyers, market analysts, and crypto professionals, on Thursday, as the New York Times first reported.
The move follows Christie’s handling of several top-dollar real estate transactions over the past two years, including the sale of a $65 million mansion in Beverly Hills, CA, where buyers asked to pay in cryptocurrency instead of cash.
Aaron Kirman, CEO of the Los Angeles-based Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California, who oversaw the deal, tells Realtor.com® that that experience and others like it cemented his belief that there was “a real market” for crypto.
“Crypto is here to stay—its influence in real estate is only going to grow in the coming years,” adds Kirman.
(Realtor.com)
The Christie’s executive explains that the decision to launch a crypto-focused real estate division was driven “organically” by their clients.
So far, Christie’s Real Estate SoCal has closed multiple eight-figure deals paid entirely in cryptocurrency, totaling just over $200 million in transactions.
Kirman further reveals that he is currently sitting on a portfolio worth more than $1 billion containing homes whose sellers are open to crypto-only offers.
Those include a $118 million mansion in Los Angeles’ exclusive Bel-Air enclave, nicknamed “La Fin,” and a $63 million Beverly Hills stunner known as the Nightingale.
The 12-bedroom, 17-bathroom La Fin, which means “the end” in French, was previously listed for a jaw-dropping $139 million, landing it on the Realtor.com list of the most expensive homes in early July 2024.
The ultraluxury property comes with a 6,000-square-foot nightclub featuring a private wine room, a fitness center with a climbing wall, a sub-zero vodka tasting room, and a cigar lounge.
Sitting along Nightingale Drive from which it derives its poetic name, the $63 million Beverly Hills property comes with five bedrooms offering breathtaking views spanning downtown L.A. and the Pacific Ocean.
Other high-end features include a home theater, a gym, a spa, and a 115-foot infinity pool with a sundeck.
Just this week, Kirman’s brokerage added another property valued at more than $10 million.
The CEO predicts that, in five years, more than a third of all residential real estate transactions in the U.S. could involve cryptocurrency.
“And not just at the high end,” notes Kirman. “Crypto investors are from every demographic.”
To that end, the Christie’s Southern California CEO told the Times that he is already in talks with several major banks about accepting digital currency for properties requiring home loans.
(Realtor.com)
Trump administration embraces crypto
Recent developments have shown that digital currency is not just a fad. According to a Gallup poll released earlier this week, roughly 14% of American adults currently own at least some cryptocurrency.
President Donald Trump‘s administration has taken notice. In June, it ordered both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider crypto holdings as assets when weighing the creditworthiness of a homebuyer applying for a mortgage.
The move underscored Washington’s increasingly pro-crypto stance, with Trump touting himself as a “crypto president” and pledging to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the world.”
Since taking office in January, Trump has appointed David Sacks as “crypto czar” and hosted the first White House Crypto Summit in March.
Then last week, Trump signed into law the landmark GENIUS Act, introducing federal rules for a type of cryptocurrency known as stablecoin.
Around the same time, the House passed the CLARITY Act aimed at creating a regulatory framework for digital assets and defining which agency has jurisdiction over different kinds of “digital commodities.”
Still, the use of virtual currency in real estate deals has been limited so far. Among the respondents of a National Association of Realtors® survey of people who bought a home between July 2023 and June 2024, only 1% of those who made a down payment said they used proceeds from the sale of crypto, the Associated Press reported in June.
Wealthy buyers seeking privacy turn to crypto
But according to Kirman, token-based payments are becoming increasingly popular, especially among the wealthy looking to protect their privacy and shield their property acquisitions from the public.
Long before the emergence of crypto, celebrities and other high net worth individuals have relied on limited liability companies to buy homes anonymously, but that method has proven to be not as airtight as once thought.
Christie’s new division also uses LLCs, but these are backed by cryptocurrency instead of old-fashioned bank transfers, making the buyer’s identify significantly more difficult to trace.
Kirman tells Realtor.com that he has shepherded multiple real estate transactions in which sellers did not know the buyers’ identity, “because all communications were handled securely through representatives.”
To make sure that everything is aboveboard, lawyers are responsible for verifying that the funds used in the purchases come from legitimate sources.
Besides added privacy, Kirman argues that digital currency removes traditional banking barriers and allows foreign buyers to move funds with the click of a button, which helps avoid delays.
What’s more, sellers open to crypto payments can tap into a wider buyer pool of deep-pocketed digital currency holders.
How to buy a home with crypto
The crypto mortgage market is on the rise, currency standing at $8.55 billion but expecting to reach $45.27 billion by 2030, according to HFT Market Intelligence.
Buyers can use digital currency as collateral to secure a home loan, instead of selling their crypto holdings.
Some companies offer full financing without a down payment, as long as the cryptocurrency pledged by the buyer equals the value of the property they wish to purchase.
For example, if you plan to buy a $600,000 home, you would need to bring to the table $600,000 in crypto as collateral.
As an alternative, the buyer can offer a down payment in cash, which will reduce the crypto balance in the transaction.
The alternative is to use cryptocurrency as a direct form of payment, which is the focus of the new Christie’s division.
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