If you’ve been involved in the world of real estate for a long time, you know that while the principles remain the same, the tactics and methods used are changing constantly. This is why it shouldn’t surprise you that cryptocurrencies are starting to become an accepted method of payment when it comes to purchasing property.

For those of you keeping a watchful eye on the biggest changes in the real estate market, you have probably noticed people have started selling their homes for Bitcoin.

If you’re not familiar with Bitcoin, here’s the simple version: it’s a digital, global money system (like your typical currency) designed to allow individuals to send and receive money across the internet, even to someone you don’t know. There’s a lot more to it, of course, like how a token sale can benefit a startup, but that’s what you need to understand at the most basic level.

Over the last few years, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like it have started building momentum. Not only has their value risen dramatically, but their mainstream recognition and appeal has increased significantly, too. The rising popularity of cryptocurrencies has led many buyers and sellers in the real estate market to ask if the currency is safe.

The answer is absolutely; as a digital form of currency, it simply can’t be counterfeited, so if you have Bitcoin, you know it’s the real deal. But is the crypto market itself safe? Not always. The reality of cryptocurrencies, even popular ones like Bitcoin, is that they are prone to volatility. The nature of the crypto market as it exists today means that if you’re planning to hold onto that Bitcoin for investment, you need to be prepared for some major ups and downs.

Understandably, that’s going to be a major issue for a good portion of the buyers and sellers reading this post, but it’s worth noting that there’s nothing saying you have to risk Bitcoin dropping in value. If you manage to turn in your Bitcoin for the currency of your choice, you won’t have to worry about market volatility.

So what kind of vendor actually accepts payments in Bitcoin? It’s not like it’s as easy to come by as a balance transfer or traditional revolving credit card, right? Well, one of the most appealing things about accepting payment in Bitcoin is that the vendor can expect the price of Bitcoin to continue increasing over time. After all, the only thing cooler than selling your condo for $1M is finding out the spike in Bitcoin value means you earned an extra 20percent on the sale for doing nothing.

And that’s not just market speculation, either. At one point, the price of Bitcoin had risen to nearly 10 times its value at the beginning of the year, to more than $10,000. If you think cryptocurrency will continue to increase in value, it makes perfect sense to acquire a large amount of Bitcoin by selling your assets.

What’s more, any buyer that has a Bitcoin balance big enough to buy multimillion-dollar properties is likely an early adopter of Bitcoin, and being able to appeal to a group of millionaires is reason enough to cleverly market your luxury property by offering it in exchange for Bitcoin.

The perks go on; when it comes to fraud protection, Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies operate through the blockchain network and aren’t housed in or controlled by any central authority, so it’s impossible for them to be stolen from you. That’s the beauty of decentralization -- once that money is yours, it belongs to you and you alone.

To understand the power of decentralization, look at a centralized service like Paypal. Let’s say your asset transaction goes through PayPal, and one day PayPal decides that you have violated their terms of service agreement. Instead of checking in with you to see what’s wrong, it’s entirely possible that they would just lock you out of your account, freezing your assets. What’s worse, that money is under PayPal’s control until they see fit to restore your rights to it. You’ll have to jump through all their hoops and cut through all their red tape before you see any of your money.

With Bitcoin (and cryptocurrencies like it), no one can ever decide to arbitrarily freeze your account. That’s because there is no central authority passing judgment over your assets.

Understanding how settlement works when buying with Bitcoin can be a bit tricky, but there are solutions being put into place by the blockchain community to the make the process more efficient and less tedious. There are even some platforms that will let you trade illiquid assets -- like your home -- for liquid assets without the need for any third-party involvement.

Whether you’re already comfortable selling or buying using Bitcoin or just learning the ropes, one thing is for sure -- crypto is here to stay.

Would you ever use Bitcoin for a large financial transaction, like the purchase of a home?