A company in Mar del Plata announced that it accepts cryptocurrencies in its negotiations. An article of the Civil and Commercial Code could be used as a legal basis for the transactions.
After a real estate development company started to promote its buildings in exchange for Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, the business of real estate in Argentina could transform the way that negotiations of properties are conducted. The method of payment began to be promoted last month, but the first sale using the cryptocurrency has not yet been closed.
This announcement was made by Javier Beolchi, from the company Beogroup in Mar del Plata, who stressed that the option to pay with Bitcoin is still in the promotion and publicity phase, so he hopes that in a matter of time the first negotiation with cryptocurrencies will take place.
Beolchi stated that he trades the cryptocurrencies that he accepts for local currency at any exchange, which allows his business to have the money to buy the materials and pay the payroll. He explained that they offer to pay with cryptocurrencies for the constructions that they advance themselves.
Legality of Operations
Concerning whether there is any legal or regulatory obstacle for the establishment of contracts for the sale of real estate in Bitcoin, Beolchi said that article 1614 of the Civil and Commercial Code of the Nation is the most related to these operations. He explained that it allows assigning the ownership of a good or asset, such as in the case cryptocurrencies, in exchange for the property.
The article that Beolchi mentions is included in the section on the Transfer of Rights, which states:
There is an assignment contract when one of the parties transfers a right to the other. The rules about purchase and sale, exchange or donation are applied to the transfer of rights, according to what has been done with the consideration of a price in money, of the transfer of the ownership of a good, or without consideration, respectively, as long as they are not modified by those in this Chapter.
Although the article could theoretically be applied to cryptocurrencies, it is not clear how the assignment of their own would be conducted; this, if the issue would be related to the user’s private keys or a transfer from wallet to wallet. This is an issue that would need more clarity in the case that these types of operations begin to be accepted in the country.
Regarding possible discounts for those that pay with cryptocurrencies, Beolchi said that the price per square meter does not vary when the payments are made with cryptocurrencies. However, it should be mentioned that discounts on cryptocurrency sales could be considered as bank transaction costs would be eliminated.
The offer of real estate for cryptocurrencies in Argentina is indirectly related to an event that occurred in December 2018, when an agreement for the sale of a property in the town of San Luis was registered in the Bitcoin blockchain.
By Willmen Blanco
