Christie's offers $1 billion in luxury real estate to buyers paying with crypto: NYT

Christie’s new crypto division is targeting luxury home sales, backed by lawyers and analysts to verify funds without using banks.

By Zack Abrams • Edited by Daniel Kuhn
Business•July 24, 2025, 5:05PM EDT
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Christie's offers $1 billion in luxury real estate to buyers paying with crypto: NYT

Quick Take

  • Luxury brokerage Christie’s International Real Estate has launched a new division to handle property sales made with cryptocurrency, according to a New York Times report. 
  • The brokerage has already handled luxury property sales with cryptocurrency. 
  • The brokerage said $1 billion worth of luxury real estate is currently open to crypto-only offers from prospective buyers. 
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The owners of over $1 billion worth of luxury real estate are open to being paid in crypto, according to a New York Times report. 

Brokerage Christie's International Real Estate, an independent firm that shares branding with the world-famous auction house, has opened a new division aiming to specifically facilitate luxury real estate purchases made with cryptocurrency rather than the traditional fiat. 

Aaron Kirman, CEO of the Christie's branch in southern California, opened the division after being inspired by recent big-ticket crypto real estate sales, including a $65 million Beverly Hills property purchase made with crypto, the report states. 

The division involved "a dedicated team of lawyers, analysts and crypto experts" to handle crypto payments without involving intermediary banks. Kirman said he has presided over deals where the seller did not know the buyer's identity, but lawyers hired by the seller verified with the buyer that the funds didn't come from illegal means. 

Included in the portfolio is Invisible House, a property in Joshua Tree with a world-famous design featuring reflective walls that mirror the desert landscape. 

Kirman estimated that within five years, crypto could account for more than one-third of all residential property sales in the United States, according to the Times.