Despite its monumental price increase, Bitcoin has been undergoing some curious growing pains lately. Since it continues to gain popularity, the community is apparently falling into a civil war with a single issue at the middle of everything — scaling. Lambos we can purchase, but if you would like to get a coffee for yourself on the way to you job, comparatively slow transaction times and high prices make it a less-than-desirable coin to use. For the time being, at least, it appears high cost purchases alongside being a censorship resistant store of value are a few of Bitcoin’s most significant discoveries.
Bitcoin has clearly piqued the attention of the extremely wealthy who are the holders of 
a large crypto wallet. Multi-million-dollar mansions are popping up all over with Bitcoin price tags. And if you’re looking for luxury cars, yachts, fine art, or a $300,000 wrist watch, it is possible to find those too. Where the transfer of large amounts of money globally would normally cost an arm and a leg and require a few days to process, Bitcoin bypasses the banks, leading to lower prices and a 30-minute waiting period.
The infiltration of Bitcoin to the luxury marketplace began in 2013. The now defunct Bitpremier made waves in finance sites as it launched the first ever Bitcoin shop for high priced purchases. Following this, many big-ticket items started hitting the news.
Lamborghinis
The same year, Lamborghini Newport Beach started accepting Bitcoin… sort of. The initial purchase to hit the media was a Tesla Model S that was originally touted as a Bitcoin Buy, even though it later was revealed that the firm lacked the infrastructure to support a Bitcoin payment, and required the client to convert the coin to money before making the purchase. Since that time, however, there are quite a few legitimate Lambo purchases with crypto.
Headlines such as “A 4chan User bought a $200,000 Lamborghini Using Bitcoin” might have stirred some giggles back then, but it is now a critical business with numerous retailers seeking to jump on the bandwagon.
Fine Art
Eleesa Dadiani, owner of the esteemed Dadiani Fine Art in London started accepting Bitcoin and six other top cryptocurrencies for bits in her gallery earlier this season. Dadiani considers in cryptocurrencies, not just for her organization, but all companies. They’re combining old world business ethics and practice with the new world of technology — the present system is getting stale and should be disrupted. Cryptocurrencies will offer a bridge from the elitist, centralist fine art marketplace to a decentralized, open source world where many more will have the ability to be a part of the exhilarating marketplace.
Real Estate
In addition to fine art and luxury cars, property has made its way to Bitcoin brochures.
Back in September, it was announced that Michele Mone, a British lingerie entrepreneur, and her billionaire partner, Doug Barrowman would be starting a $327 million commercial real estate project in Dubai, with an option to buy the big-ticket condos in Bitcoin. The couple see the buyers of those flats being people that are looking to redeploy funds from the crypto world into traditional world, and there is nowhere safer than bricks-and-mortar to do that.
Barrowman and Mone are not the only property tycoons looking to capitalize on cryptocurrency, either. Ben Shaoul, president of Magnum Real Estate Group, is now in the process of creating a building in Manhattan’s Lower East side where condos will be priced between $700,000 and $1.5-million. Though Manhattan’s high-priced housing market remains flooded, Shaoul wants to get an edge on the competition by accepting Bitcoin.
“Our buyer has evolved, they’ve moved from mom and pops to young people who want to pay with various forms of payment,” said Shaoul. When someone wants to pay for commercial property sales using another type of payment, you are going to attempt and work together and give them exactly what they want, particularly in a really busy housing market.
Private schools
These high-profile accounts have spurred a veritable frenzy in the luxury marketplace.
In Manhattan, there are even two private Montessori schools which have chosen to take Bitcoin payments. Citing slow and expensive transactions, Marco Ciocca the co-founder and chairman of the schools noted that they don’t accept credit cards, but Bitcoin has been “really really easy” to use. Rather than some of the other companies which might keep the crypto currency, Flatiron and SoHo immediately cash out the Bitcoin obligations for fiat.
The future of Bitcoin for a currency
While the scaling discussion reaches a boiling point, it’s obvious to see why ‘routine’ Bitcoin enthusiasts are searching for solution to the crypto currency’s largest drawback for a currency. It has become a store-of-value for a few, and a more affordable alternative to banks and credit cards for high cost purchases for others. With contested hard forks driving a wedge in the community, and second coating solutions in development it’s tough to say exactly when we will eventually be able to buy this coffee. But one thing is clear; adoption is well on its way, and an individual can bet that after solutions are ready for execution on the scaling Issue, Bitcoin will catch on even quicker.
