Brazil Real Estate Developer Stalwart Gafisa Starts Accepting Bitcoin as Payment

Stalwart Gafisa, a major property development company based in Brazil, is making a long-term bet in the growing cryptocurrency market. The firm has announced that it has added Bitcoin as a form of a rent payment at its real estate properties.

The move confirms Gafisa’s commitment to bringing decentralized retail payment options to its clients through safe, efficient, and uncomplicated transactions protected by blockchain technology.

The Brazilian-based firm has partnered with cryptocurrency gateway provider Foxbit to enable the real estate transaction process, thereby reducing costs.

In a statement, crypto firm Foxbit said that Bitcoin would reduce transaction costs with rapid and real-time settlements while eliminating fraud risks and also being a part of the “disruptive technology” that opens new opportunities for future growth.

Guilherme Benevides, CEO of Gafisa, commented about the development and said: “Bitcoin is growing in popularity every day and expanding the possibilities of its use. Gafisa feels digital payments will continue to garner an increasingly high level of presence in emerging economies.”

Blockchain Transforming Real Estate Markets

The real estate market is influenced by global growth trends, like the growth of the transaction costs and new technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The real estate market has a complex structure of participants, such as sellers and buyers of real estate, intermediaries, developers, real estate owners, and state bodies registering real estate transactions. And therefore, the transactions for purchases and sales of properties are complex as they normally take 15 days and even more for completion.

Blockchain has increasingly become important in addressing frauds associated with the ability to manipulate ownership of the objects and reducing the transaction costs of the real estate market.

Despite the uncertainty in crypto markets, a rising number of real estate companies such as Washington-based Harbor Custom Development Inc., Dubai Real Estate Developer Damac Properties, and Luxury Miami Condominium Arte, among others, have warmed to the idea of digital currencies and continue to adopt cryptos as a medium of exchange.