Brokerage agency Christie’s International Real Estate formed a dedicated team to handle luxury real estate deals fully paid in cryptocurrency.
The team of brokers at Christie’s International Real Estate is led by well-known Los Angeles broker Aaron Kirman, reports The New York Times. The new crypto division includes lawyers, compliance specialists, and digital asset experts.
The primary goal is to ensure full legal and regulatory transparency for real estate transactions where payment is made exclusively in crypto, without involving traditional banks or fiat payment systems. The team’s first deal was the sale of a Beverly Hills mansion for $65 million, paid entirely in BTC.
Christie’s International Real Estate is a global network of independent luxury real estate firms. The organization has more than 400 offices, about 10,000 real estate agents in 50 countries worldwide, and manages a portfolio of luxury properties valued at over $100 billion.
The new team oversees deals with luxury properties purchasable by cryptocurrency, with a total value exceeding $1 billion. These include:
- La Fin villa in Bel-Air valued at $118 million;
- Nightingale house in Beverly Hills valued at $63 million;
- Invisible House in Joshua Tree, valued at $18 million, and others.
According to Kirman, demand for such deals is steadily growing as buyers seek privacy and speed of transaction. Many close deals through anonymous trusts or LLCs where the ultimate beneficiary isn’t disclosed even to the seller. He noted that in 2024 alone, his team handled $450 million worth of transactions where crypto was the primary payment method.
Kirman expressed confidence that within the next five years, cryptocurrency transactions will become routine in the luxury real estate sector, and the use of digital assets to purchase exclusive apartments and luxury homes will be standard practice for a new generation of ultra-wealthy clients.
Earlier, CoinsPaid launched a solution for accepting crypto payments in real estate, offering instant crypto-to-fiat conversion, support for international deals, and transparent fees.
Max Krupyshev, CEO of CoinsPaid, stated that in the next 3–5 years, crypto payments will become a standard tool for real estate transactions and investments. “Crypto payments are often the first real step into Web3 for most players in the real estate market. Just having a simple, secure way to accept USDC or BTC — that’s the entry point,” Max said.
Christie’s initiative comes amid growing institutionalization of the crypto market. In the U.S., a law establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins was passed, allowing banks to work with digital assets. At the same time, national housing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received recommendations to consider crypto assets when assessing borrowers’ creditworthiness.
