The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) largest real estate development firm, Emaar Properties, has officially denied reports that it enabled crypto payments for property, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 20.
Known for developing the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa — located in Dubai — the firm told Bloomberg that it currently accepts only fiat currencies, such as UAE Dirhams (AED) or United States dollars as payment for property purchases. The publication cited an Emaar Properties spokesperson as providing the confirmation.
In the report, Bloomberg cited Australian crypto-focused website Micky as one of websites that initially reported that the real estate giant had started accepting crypto. According the original report on Feb. 19, Emaar Properties allegedly allowed clients to purchase property with major cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), through a broker in Switzerland.
Subsequently, the news was posted by multiple real estate-related accounts on Twitter, including UAE-based Premier Estates.
Recently, Japan’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), denied reports that it was considering allowing Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to operate in the country, following a false report from Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, property development company New World Development recently announced a joint venture to launch a blockchain platform for digital authorization in real estate processes. The Bank of China has reportedly become the first bank to sign up to use the platform, aiming to reduce paperwork operations.
