OpenSea sells $175,000 house as an NFT during China drama

GB Market Commentary 20/10/2022

by Marcus Sotiriou

The uncertain macroeconomic environment has caused Bitcoin to continue to grind sideways, as China, the second biggest economy in the world, faces major risks.

Firstly, China is stopping LNG sales to Europe. LNG sales involved China shipping Russian gas to EU after buying it at a discount. With this halted, there will be further pressure on the European energy market, which is already in a crisis.

Also, the Chinese chairman, Xi Jinping, said that Hong Kong has been forced into submission and that Taiwan is next, after being re-elected. This provides additional concerns around the possibility of China invading Taiwan.

Lastly, the U.S. have said that if a U.S. citizen is working on semiconductors, they need to leave their job or they could lose their citizenship. This has resulted in a significant fear surrounding China’s chip industry, which is an important segment of the global economy.

A historical milestone has occurred in the NFT space as Roofstock, a digital real estate platform, has sold a single-family home in South Carolina for $175,000 via an NFT on OpenSea.

Adam Slipakoff, a seasoned real estate investor and the buyer of the property, said, “I never imagined I could buy and finance a house with a simple click, rather than going through the time-consuming and cumbersome traditional settlement and mortgage process. Instead of waiting months for underwriting, appraisals, title searches and preparing deeds, I was able to buy a fully title-insured, rent-ready property with one click.”

This is an exciting development for NFTs, as it presents the real-world utility that blockchain technology presents. It can result in more efficient settlement process, as well as more value creation for buyers and sellers due to less intermediation.