Luxury Villa Available Only for Bitcoin in Historical Caesarea
Are you looking to buy a house with beautiful views? What if you were told that such a house is available and that the prime minister would be your next-door neighbor? Well, there is property available in the exclusive area of historic Caesarea in Israel. The owner is accepting the only bitcoin for his seaside villa and it doesn’t look like it will all be dumped if/when received.
The property is located in a quiet, up-market Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast. The villa has seven large bedrooms, five bathrooms, a safe room and an outdoor heatable pool and Jacuzzi shaded by tropical palm trees. The interiors have been beautifully appointed. The villa is furnished with original classic furniture from the renowned Bauhaus. The property owner is offering his luxury villa for sale at nearly US$3 million, or 15,000 BTC.
Meet the Locals
The seaside villa is a short distance from the nearby country club and synagogue. It is also only 150 meters from the residence of Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Other notable neighbors include Valery Kogan, a billionaire with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Valery Kogan co-owns the Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, Russia. The airport is the largest in Eastern Europe and had a throughput of 30 million passengers in 2013. According to Forbes , he recently splurged US$ 100 million in building the most luxurious mansion in Israel and a further US$ 31 million on an apartment that is said to have broken records in Israeli real estate.
The luxury property was listed on BitPremier last week, a high-end website for ‘astute buyers in the Bitcoin community’, where shoppers can find everything from superyachts to vintage cars and private islands, all purchasable with the cryptocurrency.
Appearing on Israeli prime time television, the property’s owner, Eli, said:
I want to make history by selling my property for Bitcoin. Whether the price goes up or down, I’m prepared to take the risk. There are hundreds of Bitcoin early adopters who became multimillionaires overnight, and it’s burning a hole in their pocket. The location is not the normal place for a holiday home for anyone from outside Israel, but the Caesarea coastline is a hidden gem.
Caesarea’s History
Caesarea is an area rich in history. It was originally called Paneas until about 20 BC when it was named Caesarea by Herod the Great in honor of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus. Herod the Great Herod began construction of a deep-sea harbor and built storerooms, markets, wide roads, baths, temples to Rome and Augustus, and imposing public buildings. Every five years the city hosted major sports competitions, gladiator games, and theatrical productions in its theater overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
The city’s fortunes ebbed and flowed with the passing of the centuries until the 19th century when a small community was established in 1884. Today the city has a population of 4,400 and covers an area of 35 square kilometers.
About Bitcoin
Bitcoin is bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of any central control. The currency’s cryptographic features make it attractive to the tech-savvy and enable anyone to shop online without fear of censors or government regulation.
The cryptocurrency was trading at US$ 347 on the exchange Thursday, and recently, companies like Dell, Virgin Galactic, Expedia, and PayPal have offered customers the choice to pay with the digital currency.
Image credit: BitPremier; other images from Shutterstock.
