The feature offers accessibility and affordability to a larger pool of potential tenants and landlords
Vancouver-based housing platform liv.rent has announced that it will begin accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment.
Through this feature, liv.rent said that it will be bridging the gap between the world of cryptocurrency and the housing market, “which has been typically slower in the adoption of new technologies.”
“People are requesting more choices,” said Fuad Arafa, director of research and development at liv.rent. “We’re giving choices to the people.”
Both the renter and landlord sides of a transaction must be on the liv.rent platform to enable crypto payments. The platform will be requesting a nominal processing fee of 0.5% per transaction, which it says is still much lower than typical credit card fees.
Read more: Is cryptocurrency the future of the mortgage industry?
“When a tenant receives a payment request … there are two options: pay directly through Coinbase, or scan a QR code containing the address of a unique payment request and pay with the cryptocurrency wallet of their choice,” liv.rent said. “When a renter pays in Bitcoin, it’s transferred and later deposited as CAD into the landlord’s bank account. With this new feature, landlords can appeal to a wider pool of potential tenants.”
The platform added that this new feature will help a larger number of people, especially newcomers to the market, access rental housing.
“This new Bitcoin payment option is also much more affordable than the traditional wire transfer method, therefore alleviating financial barriers that come with renting your first Canadian home,” liv.rent said.
