The Cayman Islands have long been an idyllic beach getaway for tourists, but the islands will soon welcome Bitcoin (BTC) holders as new residents through Bitcoin-backed loans for investing in real estate.
Ledn, a bitcoin banking company registered as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, offers bitcoin holders a way to use BTC as collateral for loans to invest in real estate on the island .
This is just one of the pathways for potential new residents of the Cayman Islands to obtain citizenship, with buyers investing more than $2.4 million in real estate in the Cayman Islands qualifying for permanent residency.
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Ledn CEO Adam Reeds spoke directly to Cointelegraph about a new partnership with local real estate agency Parallel that has also facilitated some cryptocurrency-based real estate sales in the Cayman Islands.
“Ledn will offer cryptocurrency-backed loans to real estate buyers in the Cayman Islands, and Parallel will accept such loans as a means of financing the purchase. Parallel will only accept borrowed funds lent by Ledn — and in that sense it is a an exclusive partnership.”
According to Reeds, Parallel can handle the fiat currency conversion if the buyer or seller prefers this option over cryptocurrency payments. At the same time, any transactional portion of Ledn will be fiat-free, paid in BTC or USD-backed stablecoins.
“Parallel is a cryptocurrency-focused real estate broker in the Cayman Islands, so users can now finance real estate purchases entirely without fiat currency.”
Cryptocurrency holders can also pay for properties in the Cayman Islands in cryptocurrency through Parallel. However, Reedus highlighted a potential appeal that investors can use their BTC holdings as collateral without having to sell some of them.
“Then, if or when bitcoin goes up, your loan-to-value ratio goes down, so your house goes up in value and the asset you’re borrowing money from goes up in value.”
Given that Parallel has previously sold real estate through cryptocurrency-facilitated transfers, Reeds added that both firms have seen demand for the service to finance major real estate transactions.
The real estate company sold $10 million worth of property in December 2022, Pay entirely in cryptocurrency. The company is also registered as a VASP with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, enabling it to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions.
Both Ledn and Parallel must comply with comprehensive compliance requirements as part of registering with the local monetary authority.
The concept of obtaining residency through investments involving cryptocurrencies is not entirely new.Vanuatu claim Be the first country to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment for citizenship by investment.
Many other countries have become crypto-friendly destinations trying to obtain citizenship. Portugal, Malta, and El Salvador have all become relatively crypto-friendly countries, but it remains impossible to directly invest in Bitcoin to obtain or qualify for residency.
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