Buying real estate for crypto: Russia vs Dubai

But as long as one has a physical body, one needs somewhere to live, and when the numbers in your account have magically multiplied by ten, one wants to live not just somewhere, but in an aesthetically beautiful house.

That's why thousands of crypto-moguls are now plucking a chunk off their capitals and turning it from virtual digits into real apartments with sea views or family villas with a big pool. We call this grounding. Bitcoin can't be touched, but the apartment bought with it can.

The main difference why in Russia transactions for crypto are a farce, while in Dubai they take place every day: in the Emirates any person or even a company can pay instead of you to buy your apartment, in Russia - no.

When a client in Russia buys an apartment in a new building from a developer, an escrow account and a letter of credit are opened. Both accounts are strictly in the name of the buyer and only you can deposit money there.

We've had cases, for example, where a dad bought his daughter a condo and wanted to pay for it out of his own account. It doesn't work. First you have to transfer the money to her, and then she pays for the apartment.

Good for the state - everything is transparent. It's safe for the customer. But a digital bank trail remains, and at any moment you may be asked: "Where did you get 70 million, and did you pay taxes on it?". Some people find such prospects disconcerting.

In Dubai, on the other hand, there are no taxes on income, profits or dividends, so cash flow within the country is treated more easily. Your new apartment can be paid to the developer instead of you, for example, any Dubai company.

How the deal for crypto in Dubai goes: we choose an apartment or villa and book it. The developer prepares a contract and issues an invoice for payment - an invoice. And then at the stage of payment our crypto partner is connected.

We in Dubai work with trusted guys who we know personally from working in Moscow. They have offices in Dubai, London and many Russian cities. Offices are necessary for shady clients who are worried about what if something goes wrong, but usually in this case we act as a guarantor of the deal.

Almost all developers now have some kind of recommended agents, but we have tried one deal with them and don't want them anymore - usually they are spoiled and lazy Indians.

The customer transfers the payment from his cryptocurrency wallet to the partner's wallet, and the partner immediately sends the payment from his bank account to the developer and discounts the payment. That's it. The deal is done. The apartment is yours. The service of the agent on payment costs 2-5% and depends on the amount and frequency of payments. During one transaction we had a client's bitcoin increased by 5%, covering all the costs of the transaction.

Prices now in Dubai for adequate properties start from $250-300k, a villa can be bought from $2-2.5m. But it is not necessary to have all this money at the time of purchase, because Dubai - the city of peyment-plans or in our way interest-free installments.

The developer gives you the option to pay for the purchase over 2-3-4 years - payments once a month or once a quarter. The first payment is usually 15-25% of the cost of the object, rarely 50% - depends on the popularity of the project. For example, to buy a townhouse with a swimming pool for 1.5 million dollars you need to have on the account $300k - 23 million rubles.

If you buy a property from $300k you can get a Dubai resident visa, which will allow you to open personal bank accounts, rent your property tax-free, get a local license, well, and stay in the country any time you want. Ah, yes, you can pass through a special corridor at the airport upon arrival without passport control.

Who has made money on crypto and wants some grounding in Dubai, write to us. We work with love and without commission.