Bitcoins in play in the Shanghai property market

Phiber · Nov 15, 2013

Three buildings on a 700,000-square-meter plot of land in the Pudong district of Shanghai look just like any other in the city. What makes them different, however, is that space in these buildings can be purchased using bitcoins, a digital currency circulated on the internet which functions without the intermediation of a central authority.

At the entrance to one of the three buildings, which is used as the property management center, a bulletin reads: "Today's bitcoin value: 1: 2,100," signifying that 1 bitcoin has an exchange value of 2,100 yuan (US$344).

The owner of the buildings, Shanda Tiandi, posts the rate every day. If a buyer wants to purchase a unit in bitcoins, he will have to convert the price in yuan into bitcoins based on the day's exchange rate.

This modern way of payment has attracted many employees from the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Pudong. Shanda Tiandi's salespersons told Shanghai's First Financial Daily that there were several people who had asked about the bitcoin purchases, though none of them placed an order.

The Shanda Tiandi buildings target young buyers, with each unit priced between 800,000 and 1.5 million yuan (US$131,000-$246,000). The company said its strategy of accepting bitcoins is aimed at conveying its recognition of the internet's innovative and pioneering spirit, and that it hopes it can win the approval of China's internet users, the newspaper said.

Shanda Tiandi's operational president, He Daxiong, told the daily, "We want to act differently from the traditional ways the real estate sector is run." Apart from that, the company also wants to see if bitcoins can replace hard currency in the real world, he said.
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http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20131114000039&cid=1102

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Bitcoins in play in the Shanghai property market

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