Real estate investment and management firm Jamestown on Wednesday (April 27) partnered with cryptocurrency payments processor BitPay to accept crypto-based rent payments for its U.S. properties with plans to expand it into Europe, according to a joint announcement.
“Blockchain technology and the digital assets it enables, like cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, are key components to the evolution of real estate,” Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown, said in the joint press release. “Allowing for cryptocurrency payments is part of our commitment to innovation and larger digital asset strategy to optimize and maximize our physical real estate through technology and virtual integrations.”
Jamestown will accept rent payments in several cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ethereum, dogecoin, litecoin and five USD-pegged stablecoins, and the release noted that more types could be added later.
“In today’s world, customers want to pay for day-to-day items like food and rent in bitcoin or ethereum, and working with Jamestown lets them not only live life on crypto, but live and work in transformed spaces and innovation hubs across major cities,” said Stephen Pair, CEO of BitPay.
Jamestown oversees about 26 million square feet of real estate across the U.S., including Ponce City Market in Atlanta, Georgia, Ballston Exchange in Arlington, Texas, and Levi’s Plaza in San Francisco, California.
Retail tenants can also participate in an elective cryptocurrency payment services program, and Jamestown is considering direct deposit programs in which its employees could be paid partially in cryptocurrencies.
Last month, BitPay announced that crypto providers Bitso, Bitstamp, Edge and Guarda had adopted its payment protocol.
Related: BitPay Adds New Crypto Wallets and Exchanges
The BitPay Protocol has also been adopted by the largest self-custody wallet in the world, Blockchain Wallet. BitPay said a number of other high-profile wallets are also payment-enabled, including Electrum, BRD, Metamask and Ledger.
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