ENTREPRENEUR Michelle Mone is selling luxury flats through Bitcoin as part of a £250 million property venture with her billionaire boyfriend Douglas Barrowman.
The Scottish founder of lingerie brand Ultimo is developing two apartment blocks and a shopping mall in Dubai, with plans to sell 150 of the homes using the cryptocurrency.
Baroness Mone expects the lion's share of the residences to be snapped up by expatriates.
She said: "This is the first major development selling to the Bitcoin community.
"There has been one apartment here and there, one house here and there, but never a development.
"I think it is exciting for that world that two well-known successful business people are backing it in a major development."
The Aston Plaza and Residences will stretch across 2.4 million square feet and offer 1,133 studio, one bedroom and two-bedroom apartments inside two 40-storey towers.
Communal areas will be designed by her company Michelle Mone Interiors, while the shopping mall will feature boutique stores, cafes and restaurants.
The average price of a one bedroom apartment stands at 239,000 US dollars, or around 58 Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is the world's leading cryptocurrency and uses a decentralised technology - or blockchain- for secure payments.
Mr Barrowman, chairman of finance and property management giant Knox Group, said Bitcoin "represents an opportunity".
"We are the early adopters of the cryptocurrency to date and serious business people and the institutions are now looking at it.
"The next five to 20% movement and adoption will take it mainstream, and then it becomes part of everyday life."
If plans to sell apartments through Bitcoin struggle, then Mr Barrowman will look to price up the properties in US dollars.
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