Known for his work in the entertainment industry, talent manager and media mogul Scooter Braun recently sold a lakeside Austin property for $18.5 million in Bitcoin, marking the biggest cryptocurrency real estate transaction in Texas history and one of the largest in the United States, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. A person familiar with the issue revealed the transaction was a cash-to-coin exchange, with Braun receiving Bitcoin as payment. Wayne Vaughan, the CEO of Tierion, a firm that stores data on a blockchain, is the buyer of the property. Tierion made a payment to a Limited Liability Company (LLC) associated with Mr. Braun, according to property records, in January 2022. According to property records, Mr. Braun, a Los Angeles-based executive, and talent manager who is best known for finding pop singer Justin Bieber, acquired the house in 2020.
Crypto in real estate on the rise
Wealthy cryptocurrency investors are racing into the luxury real estate market, despite the fact that crypto-to-crypto real estate transactions are still uncommon. In February, Finbold reported the high-profile lawyer and former mayoral candidate, Tony Buzbee, put his house in Houston up for sale and is open to accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. It should be noted that this is not the first time that Bitcoin has been utilized in the context of real estate transactions, both buying and selling. Magnum Real Estate Group revealed in September 2021, it would accept Bitcoin for its CODA (385 First Avenue in New York City) $29 million luxury residential project in Manhattan. While New York-based real estate brokerage firm Algocap Real Estate also announced last year it would start accepting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum for transactions.
