Covered by CNN earlier today, 27-year-old Matt Thompson of Wisconsin is selling off his vacation home for approximately 100 million Dogecoins. Valued at about $135,000 according to the exchange rate at the publication time of the article, that sizable amount of Dogecoins will purchase a three-bedroom, two-bath home in the woods around Hayward, Wisconsin. The lodge-style home comes with knotty pine wood on the walls and ceiling, a massive stone fireplace, an enclosed porch and a scenic view overlooking a nearby lake.
When asked about his acceptance of Dogecoins over dollars, Thompson said “I don’t mind holding on to (Dogecoins) for a multitude of reasons, including that I believe I can use them to further my business.” Thompson works as an electronics reseller and mentioned that Chinese companies will accept the recently created cryptocurrency as a form of payment for goods. Of course, there’s also the potential that Dogecoin could increase in value over time. Currently, Dogecoin is valued at about one tenth of a penny. Even just doubling the value to two tenths of a penny could mean a sizable return for Thompson.
According to Thompson, he’s selling the vacation home for a reduced price and including the interesting payment option due to a lack of demand in the area. Specifically, Thompson states “This is a vacation home. It’s solidly worth into the $200’s. The only problem with the area is that there is 2,300 homes available for sale in the county and just shy of 300 sold last year.” Interestingly, Thompson originally listed the home at 500 million Dogecoin, but the value of the currency has increased as of late and caused him to reduce the overall Dogecoin price.
Regarding offers, Thompson has yet to receive an offer for the home in dollars or Dogecoin. However, Thompson has been fielding a higher number questions than normal about the home. He believes that the inclusion of Dogecoin as a form of payment is only helping generate more interest about the listing.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that a homeowner has attempted to sell their property for a virtual currency. During March 2013, Taylor More of Alberta, Canada stated that he would accept a partial or full payment in Bitcoin for the home valued at $400,000. At the time, the value of Bitcoin was hovering around $70. If More ended up receiving approximately 5,650 Bitcoins for the purchase price of the home last year, the value of those Bitcoins would be upwards of $3 million today.
Following the lead of Mr. More, another Alberta resident put their $1 million dollar home up for sale during December 2013 and asked for Bitcoin within the listing. However, if the home had sold immediately during December, the value of Bitcoin would have been between $800 to $1,200. If the homeowner decided to hang onto the currency rather than exchange it for cash, they would have lost at least a quarter of a million dollars based on the current value.