Real Estate Platform Pacaso Accepts Crypto Assets for Payments, CEO Says ‘Mass Crypto Adoption Well Underway’

On October 20, the day bitcoin smashed a new all-time price high, the real estate platform Pacaso announced it will be accepting cryptocurrencies via Bitpay. The CEO of the real estate firm that helps people buy and co-own a second home, Austin Allison, says the firm has seen increased crypto adoption “across the real estate industry.”

The firm Pacaso is a real estate platform co-founded by Spencer Rascoff and Austin Allison. Rascoff is well known for co-founding Zillow Group and co-founding Hotwire.com as well. In October 2020, Rascoff co-founded Pacaso with Allison, and the company is considered a real estate platform that makes owning a second home easier by leveraging shared ownership. Pacaso’s business model is similar to the timeshare model but it’s also a touch different.

“Forget timeshares, with Pacaso, you own a home, not just a block of time,” the company’s website details. “You can book stays throughout the year, not annually. And resale? It’s fast and streamlined, and you set the price.” Now the firm has decided to accept crypto assets via the Atlanta-based digital currency payment platform Bitpay.

“Digital currencies and the blockchains that power them are seeing increased adoption across the real estate industry, and a crypto payment option is a recurring topic in our conversations with prospective buyers of second homes,” said Austin Allison, Pacaso’s co-founder and CEO. “As we expand internationally and put second-home co-ownership within reach for more people across the globe, we’re thrilled to be able to respond to that demand and extend as many payment options as we can to our customers.”

The announcement detailed that Pacaso customers will be able to choose from a myriad of digital assets like bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), dogecoin (DOGE), and wrapped bitcoin (WBTC). Alongside this, Pacaso clients can also leverage five different stablecoins as well. Stephen Pair, CEO of Bitpay said in recent times the company has seen much larger transactions such as people buying homes.

“We are seeing more transactions being made for large purchases like real estate as more crypto holders want to spend and live their life on crypto. Pacaso makes a second home a reality,” Pair explained on Wednesday. “The market potential for crypto is huge, with $55 billion as the estimated value of purchases consumers will make using cryptocurrency in the next 12 months.”

Pacaso says that paying with crypto will be just as easy as it would using fiat, as clients can leverage their crypto assets to use as a “down payment in their home, and finance the remainder of the transaction, or otherwise split payment between crypto and fiat currency.” Pacaso’s CEO sees mass adoption of crypto is “well underway” and with that homebuyers will want to utilize a variety of payment options.

“Whether you’re HODLing Bitcoin, diversifying out of a DOGE-heavy portfolio, or somewhere in between, Pacaso is here to help you realize your second-home dreams,” Allison concluded.

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