Two NYC Bars Could Be Yours for Only 25 Bitcoin or 800 Ether: Report

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10 January 2021

A New York City bar owner is selling his business for bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), which could make it the first cryptocurrency-only restaurant sale in the U.S.

  • According to the New York Post, owner Patrick Hughes has put the bars Hellcat Annie's and Scruffy Duffy's up for sale and is accepting bitcoin and ether as a form of payment.
  • Saying he's hoping "to catch one of these crypto dudes who always wanted to own a bar,” Hughes says he's willing to sell both businesses for around 25 BTC or 800 ETH, which are each valued at around $975,000 at the time of publication.
  • "Crypto is on fire, it's a hot currency," Hughes told the Post.
  • Though still uncommon, purchasing high-end property and real estate using cryptocurrencies is nothing new. In 2018, a beef salesman–turned–early bitcoin adopter from China’s Shanxi province, Guo Hongcai, funneled parts of his wealth out of the country by purchasing real estate abroad.
  • Hongcai sold 500 BTC in the U.S. and then used that money to buy a 100,000-square-foot mansion in Los Gatos, Calif., a 90-minute drive from San Francisco.
  • As for Hughes, while the bar owner says he's only received a few casual offers, he's convinced crypto is the future. "The next crisis, you won't have to run out and buy toilet paper," he told the Post. "You can just use your dollars."

Read more: New York Moves to Lure Crypto Startups as BitLicense Turns Five

CORRECTION (Jan. 10, 18:47 UTC): Corrects headline to reflect it’s two bars being sold.

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