PHOENIX — It may sound unusual, but some believe cryptocurrency is the next big thing.
"I think we're breaking new ground," said Ben Hudye, chairman of the Hudye Group, a Scottsdale-based real estate company.
Hudye and local real estate agent Johnathon De Young of Russ Lyon Sotheby’s recently announced they were selling four luxury condos in Scottsdale and are willing to accept cryptocurrency as payment.
“(Hudye) realizes Bitcoin, Ethereum and digital assets, in general, are becoming a mainstream asset class," said De Young.
There are currently four condominiums for sale. The prices range from $1.6 million to $2 million.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency bitcoin recently traded for more than $60,000.
According to Hudye, he still has a lot to learn about using Bitcoin and other crypto assets, but he believes they'll see more of it in the future.
"On a scale of 1-10, I probably had a knowledge of about a two, 45 to 60 days ago," he said.
"Today, I'd like to think I'm at a six so I'm still not an eight or a nine where I'm well-versed in it but it's exciting," Hudye said.
"It's extremely exciting and I can understand why people have been involved in it for as many years as they have," he added.
Meanwhile, Sedona resident Ryan Nichols recently used bitcoin to purchase a home in Arizona.
Nichols didn't give too many specifics but said he bought into bitcoin a few years ago and felt it was time to reinvest.
"I think the timing was obviously right," he said.
"It was sitting around $54,000 when I did the purchase and we were looking at having another value instead of having all cryptocurrency," he said.
"it was a good time to jump into the market and diversify a little bit," Nichols added.
Nichols admits part of buying his $2 million home with bitcoin was to prove that cryptocurrency is a viable option.
He said there's a lot of skepticism but compares it to other, more common assets like gold.
"You know, bitcoin is like any other asset whether it's stock, bonds, gold, or silver," he said.
He recommends people start looking into it.
As for the luxury condos, officials told ABC15 they've been getting a lot of interest and inquiries.
