A Real Estate-Backed NFT Sold For $653,000

The Florida four-bedroom house had a starting price tag of $650,000

February 14, 2022 02:01 pm

6315 11th Ave. S in Gulfport | Source: Heckler Realty Group

key takeaways

The NFT sale could “turn into a standard in the [real estate] industry,” according to a blockchain startup executive
The NFT can now be used as collateral for crypto borrowers and lenders

A Florida home was auctioned off as an NFT (non-fungible token) — a potential first for both real estate and cryptocurrency.

The Gulfport four-bedroom house sold for $653,163 of ether, and the winning bidder now holds the NFT, signifying ownership on-chain.

Propy, a blockchain real estate startup, hosted and facilitated the sale.

Newsletter

Subscribe to Blockworks Daily

“This is just the first seller in our pipeline and we’re seeing a lot of demand,” Natalia Karayaneva, chief executive of Propy, said in a statement.

The home’s property rights were minted as an NFT, Karayaneva said, which cuts down on closing time. The NFT holder will own the property via a limited liability company (LLC) that houses the crypto asset.

The real estate-backed token can be used as collateral for crypto borrowers and lenders.

Roughly 50 people signed up to bid in the auction — verifying their identities per the platform’s requirements. However, only two people actively bid in the sale.

Propy previously sold TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington’s studio apartment in Ukraine for roughly $113,176 of ether last year.

The NFT sale could “turn into a standard in the [real estate] industry,” Karayaneva said. “NFT sales reached $4 billion in December 2021, and real-world assets will soon represent a significant portion of that market.”

Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enforcement attorney Braden Perry told Blockworks that real estate has a “huge upside potential” when it comes to NFTs and blockchain technology at-large.

But the US regulatory environment, Perry said, “lags innovation” to adapt to it.

“The [real estate] title process is ideally suited for streamlined and protected recordings on a blockchain,” he said. “But the regulatory system is still new, and there are a lot of questions regarding the government’s role in crypto.”

Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Newsletter

Blockworks Daily

Upcoming Events

Digital Asset Summit 2025

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

learn more

recent research

Research

Analyst Takes: Post-Election Insights

With the recent election, it’s clear that there will be a meaningful shift in crypto regulations and legislation. Trump is likely as pro-crypto as a president can be. He launched (multiple) of his own NFT collections and is launching an Aave wrapper called World Liberty Fi. He has also spoken out and mentioned that he wants to make the United States "the crypto capital of the planet" and transform it into the "Bitcoin superpower of the world". He proposed creating a strategic national Bitcoin stockpile alongside support from Senator Cynthia Lummis, promising to retain 100% of all Bitcoin held by the U.S. government. More importantly, we’re likely to see deregulation across the board in a lot of industries, with crypto being one of them - as Trump has committed to keeping the crypto market largely unregulated. Crypto, DeFi in particular, has historically been knee-capped by overreaching and hostile governmental agencies and regulation by enforcement, as evidenced by the plethora of Wells notices and lawsuits over the past few years. With Donald Trump winning the presidency, Republicans taking control of the Senate, and being on the verge of securing the House, we think it’s likely that crypto realizes positive regulatory clarity. Below, you can find our analysts’ takes:

by Boccaccio