In August 2021, Miami became the first city to launch its own cryptocurrency, called MiamiCoin, through a nonprofit called CityCoins. The goal? To educate residents about bitcoin and blockchain technologies and put earnings into the community. NBCLX storyteller Eric Rodriguez looks at how MiamiCoin has already yielded over $21 million and why it could change the future of cryptocurrency, as New York City and Austin, Texas, launch their own coins.
A home along Florida's Gulf Coast will be auctioned off in the upcoming week as a non-fungible token in what is believed to be among the first such transactions in the U.S.
Non-fungible tokens — or NFTs — use a version of the encryption technology employed to secure cryptocurrencies to create one-of-a-kind digital objects. The technology provides digital creations a kind of certificate of authenticity, allowing ownership of something that could otherwise be replicated endlessly.
In the case of the four-bedroom home in Gulfport, Florida, a California-based real estate technology company, Propy, will mint the property rights into a digital token and host an online auction, with bids starting at $650,000.
Minting property rights into an NFT would allow owners to sell a home as quickly as a Venmo transaction, Leslie Alessandra, the home's current owner, told the Tampa Bay Times.
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Christopher Vasilakis, a local real estate and virtual-reality expert, described such a transaction as “essentially just selling a company and a company owns that house."
There could also be challenges given the volatility of cryptocurrency, and it’s not yet clear if the value of a house tied to an NFT would be affected by the crypto market, Vasilakis said.
