The Rider Residences And Wynwood-Based Crypto Mortgage Lender 'Milo' Unveil Crypto-Backed Real Estate Financing Program

The Rider Residences, Miami’s first crypto-native condominium development by Rilea Group and Ciprés, have unveiled an innovative financing collaboration with Milo, the leading crypto mortgage lender based in Wynwood. This new partnership marks a groundbreaking advancement in how digital asset holders can acquire real estate in Miami.

Through this collaboration, crypto investors can now leverage their Bitcoin or other digital assets as collateral to secure cash deposits toward the purchase of their units at The Rider, without selling their crypto. This initial crypto-collateralized loan allows buyers to fund their 40% pre-construction deposits while retaining the upside potential of their holdings.

Once the building is complete, Milo will offer buyers a second round of financing: a 30-year crypto mortgage secured by the property, the only crypto-backed option of its kind on the market today. At closing, clients will not need to come up with any cash down payment as Milo can finance 100% of the purchase price.

“This is a game-changer for sophisticated buyers who want to maximize their financial strategies while securing hard assets in a desirable market. The Rider is at the forefront of this movement, offering a complete solution for transactions that align with the future of wealth and ownership,” said Diego Ojeda, President of Rilea Group.

Interest rates for the down payment crypto loan are in the high single digits, making it an attractive solution for clients who do not want to sell any Bitcoin and expect future appreciation. Clients will be able to access the loans to fulfill their deposit schedule with The Rider.

At Milo, we’re redefining crypto’s role in everyday life. By offering Rider buyers cash liquidity without the need to sell their Bitcoin, we’re paving the way for seamless property ownership alongside untapped crypto potential," said Josip Rupena, CEO of Milo. The Rider, positioned at the nexus of Wynwood, Midtown, and the Design District, continues to make headlines, most recently for completing Miami’s first wallet-to-wallet Bitcoin condo sale. With bold, 1970s-inspired interiors by RADYCA and a curated collection of resort-style amenities, The Rider offers fully furnished studios to three-bedroom residences, priced from the $400Ks to over $1.8M. Delivery is expected in late 2026. This milestone further cements The Rider’s reputation as Miami’s premier real estate destination for crypto-native buyers.

Check Out This $59 Million Kobi Karp-Designed Indian Creek Island Billionaire Bunker Built by Todd Michael Glaser Which Can Be Purchased In Crypto

A $59 million waterfront compound on the star-studded Indian Creek is now accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. The tropical modern playhouse being developed by Todd Michael Glaser and features architecture and interiors by Kobi Karp. The new construction spec mansion spans nearly 16,000-sq.ft. with 12 bedrooms and 13.5 bathrooms on a 53,696-sq.ft. lot (1.25 acres).

The main level will feature 12’ ceilings, a club room, chef and prep kitchens, a media room and a gym studio. The backyard offers tropical modern vibes with lush landscaping, 134’ of water frontage with dockage for a yacht up to 110’ yacht, a large sun deck, and an infinity pool and tanning beds perfectly placed for soaking in the sun.

Indian Creek is home to a rolodex of high profile neighbors including Tom Brady & Gisele Bündchen, Ivanka & Jared Trump, Enrique Iglesias, and more. Known as “Billionaire’s Bunker” - the 300-acre island consists of less than 40 homes and is secured by its own police force and anchored by the Indian Creek Golf Course.

37 Indian Creek Island Road is listed for $59 million by Dina Goldentayer with Douglas Elliman and will be move-in ready within 18 months.

Glaser and his partners acquired the property in the summer of 2021 for $24 million from “Sábado Gigante” host Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld, also known as “Don Francisco,” in an off-market deal overseen by Dina Goldentayer. The existing house on the property was built in 1987 and was quickly demolished to make way for the new modern home.

Cryptocurrency closed sales and listings have been becoming more common place in Miami over the past several years. In 2021 a unit in Arte in Surfside sold for $22.5 million in crypto. The sale was followed by several in Downtown Miami including a $7.2 million sale at the nearby One Thousand Museum and Unit 5306 in Marquis Residences sold for $7.2 million in Ethereum. Recently the $34 penthouse at Regalia Residences announced that they would be taking cryptocurrency as a form of payment as well in partnership with RealOpen.

Images and renderings via Todd Michael Glaser, Dina Goldentayer and Kobi Karp

PMG Partners With FTX.US To Accept Cryptocurrency at South Florida Real Estate Developments

PMG has announced a partnership with West Realm Shires Services Inc. (“FTX.US” or “FTX”), a leading U.S.-regulated cryptocurrency platform, as the sole platform handling cryptocurrency conversions for two of its South Florida projects deposits and residential transactions — E11EVEN Hotel & Residences Miami and Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami. This announcement represents FTX.US’s first entry into the real estate market, further establishing developer PMG as a trailblazer in the real estate industry and FTX.US as an innovator in the cryptocurrency financial services space. To commemorate the partnership PMG hosted the FTX/ Crypto Roundtable at Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami where Miami’s real estate leaders with experience completing deals using cryptocurrency met with FTX.US VP of Business Development Avinash Dabir for an in-depth discussion about how the FTX cryptocurrency platform handles cryptocurrency conversions for PMG’s luxury real estate properties.

“As FTX continues to grow its presence in the Miami area, we couldn’t think of a more ideal time to work with such a prestigious cryptocurrency exchange platform,” said Ryan Shear, Managing Partner of PMG. “We foresee this partnership with FTX bringing increased security for our cryptocurrency payment processes offered to buyers due to their extremely diverse portfolio and impressive experience.”

In June, national developer PMG announced it is the first U.S. real estate developer to accept cryptocurrency for condominium deposits in pre-construction projects through E11EVEN Hotel & Residences Miami. Additionally, E11EVEN Partners, the hospitality brand co-developing E11EVEN Hotel & Residences with PMG, announced in April that it is accepting cryptocurrency for transactions at its globally renowned nightlife venue, E11EVEN Miami. Through this deal, buyers utilizing cryptocurrency for either the remaining available inventory at E11EVEN Hotel & Residences Miami or Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami, or each following deposit, will have their payments converted through FTX.US.

FTX.US President Brett Harrison commented on the news, “Alongside FTX, cryptocurrency’s presence on the global stage only continues to grow, and this is just the latest development in that process. We are excited to add such prestigious institutions to our roster of partners and increase consumer access to digital assets and digital asset-related services. At FTX, we believe that crypto is the future of finance and strive to do our part on a daily basis to make this future come to fruition.”

Centrally located in Downtown Miami’s Park West District, E11EVEN Hotel & Residences Miami developed by PMG and E11EVEN Partners will be designed by internationally renowned Sieger Suarez Architects and feature finished residences and hotel rooms by award-winning design firm AvroKO. E11EVEN Hotel & Residences Miami encompasses 375 fully furnished residences. Each unit comes equipped with fully-integrated “smart building” features and 24/11-style amenities, including celebrity-chef dining experiences throughout the property, a casino-style sports lounge, an E11EVEN’s Members rooftop experience, and a world-class wellness center curated by Chopra Spa & Studio. E11EVEN Hotel & Residences Miami is destined to be a lifestyle experience and destination, the first of its kind in the United States. Residences start at $300,000 and include studio, one, and two-bedrooms, as well as a limited Penthouse Collection along with two Presidential Suites.

Located at 300 Biscayne Boulevard, the development of Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami is led by developer PMG, Toronto-based private equity firm Greybrook Realty Partners, global investment company Mohari Hospitality, S2 Development and will be managed by global hospitality company Hilton. The tower will rise 100 stories and 1,049 feet above Biscayne Bay as the tallest residential building south of New York City. The property will consist of 360 private residences as well as 205 guestrooms and suites within the five-star hotel. Signature spaces will include Peacock Alley; a specialty restaurant; indoor/outdoor pre-function and function spaces; meetings and boardrooms; a resort-style pool deck with private cabanas; and a spa and fitness center. The development marks the debut of one of the world’s most iconic hospitality brands, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, in the Miami market.

Residences start at $1 million, with sales and marketing being led in-house by PMG Residential, including Aura Aragon, Alejandra Castillo, Karine Carvalho, Daiana Quiceno and Christian Tupper, in collaboration with Fredrik Eklund, Julia Spillman and John Gomes of Douglas Elliman’s Eklund | Gomes Team.

PROFILE Insider: The Crypto Revolution Versus The Evolution Of Blockchain In Real Estate Part 1

When it comes to understanding cryptocurrency and blockchain, nearly the entire world is in the dark. Bitcoin is stored on the first blockchain and was first released in 2009. Although over the past decade both Bitcoin and blockchain have became more mainstream, the crypto and blockchain worlds are still in their infancy. The real estate world has been forced to adapt faster than most as the demand to use cryptocurrency for real estate transactions has “gone to the moon,” and blockchain developers have created digital databases that streamline and secure every aspect of the real estate industry.

Miami has quickly become the Cryptocity, and is becoming a cryptocurrency and blockchain hub led by Mayor Francis Suarez. Mayor Suarez’s goals include turning Miami into a Bitcoin mining hub by using the city’s nuclear power capability. He is also working towards allowing the use of Bitcoin to pay for tax and public services, as well as a salary option for city employees. Mayor Suarez set his focus on a Miami tech boom following the COVID-19 pandemic and has been working to attract the top tech and investment firms from San Francisco, Silicon Valley and New York City. The effort has paid off shown by taxable property values in Miami having doubled over the past decade as high-paying jobs have been attracted to the weather, beaches, restaurants, nightlife, low-tax and high-quality of life.

As Miami and Crypto have rapidly become synonymous, in honor Miami Crypto Week and following a PROFILEmiami Instagram Story Poll in which 41% of our followers reported investing in cryptocurrency, we wanted to make sure that none of the PROFILEmiami community was in the dark when it came to blockchain, cryptocurrency and real estate. In this three part PROFILE Insider series we will explore the differences between blockchain and cryptocurrency, how both apply to the real estate industry and how Miami is working towards becoming the center of what could be crypto’s “golden age.”

Part 1: Blockchain versus Cryptocurrency

Understanding the difference between blockchain and cryptocurrency is essential. A blockchain is a publicly distributed digital ledger that is managed by a peer-to-peer network using cryptography. It is comprised of an ever-growing list of records which tracks the history and dates of transactions, ownership or occurrences of anything or any process stored on that blockchain.

Each record is known as a “block,” and can store the data of anything from Bitcoin to a real estate deed to a property and its history to the tracking of food from farm-to-table. Each block is timestamped and once stored cannot be modified without modifying all ensuing blocks.

The blockchain was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and that specific blockchain became the public transaction ledger for the world’s first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. To date Satoshi Nakamoto is unidentified and it is unknown if the name represents a person or a group.

A cryptocurrency is a medium of exchange of digital assets which are denominated as “coins,” which represent ownership of that digital currency. A coin is a verifiable record stored on a decentralized blockchain of cryptography. Cryptocurrencies appeal to many due to being decentralized from governments and the central banking systems. Different cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Ripple (XRP), Tether, Aave, Internet Computer, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Polygon, amongst thousands of others known as “altcoins.”

In a transaction the transfer of the value between each party gets validated and stored on a new block, leaving behind a signature known as a private key, or seed. The validation process, known as “mining,” occurs when a transaction is broadcast to the cryptocurrency network and the transaction is confirmed by high-powered computers solving extremely complex computational math codes which maintain the validity of the ledger of transactions. As the computers solve the codes successful miners will produce cryptocurrency as a reward. Cryptocurrencies can be traded directly from wallet to wallet but also be traded similar to stocks or exchanged for Fiat currency such as the US dollar or other cryptocurrencies on exchanges such as Coinbase, FTX and Kraken.

Cryptocurrencies are stored on digital wallets. There are two types, a “hot wallet” and a “cold wallet.” Hot wallets are run on internet-connected devices such as phones or computers. They are very easy to use and transact with as they are usually an app on your phone, but for this reason they also lack security and can be easy to hack or physically forced access in a theft. Top hot wallets include the Coinbase Wallet, Electrum and Exodus.

“Cold wallets,” also known as “hard wallets,” are fully offline devices that are not connected to the internet, therefore much more secure. Many look like a usb drive or a smartphone, which store the user’s private keys on the secured piece of hardware. A 24-word recovery code is the only back-up for the private keys once transferred onto the hardware wallet. One of the most popular is the Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X wallets which use a proprietary OS designed to provide the highest level of security to protect your crypto assets.

Between the top three popular cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is seen as an investment-grade asset similar to gold and has the potential to become the first global currency; Ethereum is a complex blockchain which is evolving to become the first global computing platform; and Dogecoin, multi-billionaire Crypto enthusiast and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s favorite coin. Dogecoin is a “memecoin” meaning it was started as a joke but is now considered by some to be a legitimate investment asset.

As of June 6 2021 Bitcoin had a market cap of $676.13 billion, Ethereum of $314.56 billion and Dogecoin of $48.14 billion. Bitcoin has reached as high as $64,829 per coin in April 2021 before dropping down to the mid-$30,000’s in May 2021. Etherem reached a high of $4,380 in early May 2021 before retreating to the mid-$2,000’s. The cryptocurrency markets continue to grow in populating amongst both institutional investors and retail traders and something as a simple tweet from Elon Musk can send the crypto markets into a frenzy.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our three part PROFILE Insider series where we will explore both cryptocurrency and blockchains application to real estate.

Bitcoin Has Officially Entered The World Of Luxury Real Estate

Cryptocurrency is at the forefront of investing in today’s news, but ill-informed stakeholders have taken prices for a wild ride. Famously, bitcoin peaked at $19,500 in December 2017, only to fall to $7,000 a month later. Despite its instability, cryptocurrency has penetrated the retail market with over 100,000 merchants accepting bitcoin as payment, including Microsoft, Expedia, and Tesla. 

Now you can buy real estate with cryptocurrency and the process is relatively easy; buyer and seller must simply agree on a price and find title and escrow companies willing to work with virtual currency. The first single-family home sale involving bitcoin was announced in 2017 and parties completed the transaction using BitPay, a payment service that allows you to convert bitcoin into U.S. dollars. 

The exclusive Fisher Island, home to billionaires and celebrities alike, is attempting to bring bitcoin to the luxury home market. Unit 2333 in Bayside Village is a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom condo listed for $2.05 Million, or its bitcoin equivalent. The opulent, oceanfront condo offers spectacular natural lighting and extensive views of the Atlantic, Biscayne Bay, and Miami Beach skylines. If the buyer opts to pay in bitcoin, this would mark the first sale of a luxury home in bitcoin and would reinforce the security of the cryptocurrency’s future and set precedent for its impact on the global real estate market.

Real estate is a reliable outlet for established cryptocurrency investors who are looking to diversify into asset-backed investments. "The driving force behind the decision to list this property for bitcoin is to broaden the horizons for both buyers and sellers,” says Robert Volé, property owner and broker for The Island Realty. "We're looking at the evolution of both the marketplace and the buyer, while offering a new experience for sellers, many of whom are always looking at alternate means of liquidity.” Volé has over 25 years’ experience in developing, speculating and owning a number of properties on Fisher Island and South Florida. 

Despite Volé’s optimism, the lack of regulation is a source of hesitancy to using cryptocurrency for real estate transactions, especially given Miami’s notoriety as being a haven for money launderers. There is also a lack of clarity in how capital gains from bitcoin will be taxed when the IRS has no procedure regulating the reporting of these transactions. Investor magnate Warren Buffett warned that the cryptocurrency craze is destined to end badly. It remains to be seen if a volatile currency like bitcoin that has fluctuated in value some 45 percent in three months is stable enough for large real estate transactions. 

The unit is co-listed by Robert Volé and Elena Vertlib of The Island Realty. 

Article by Katya Demina

Featured Listing: Check-Out the Oceanfront Condo In Oceana Key Biscayne That Will Accept Bitcoin

An oceanfront residence at Oceana Key Biscayne is making waves after hitting the market for $5.95 million after the list agent announced that the seller is willing to accept Bitcoin. The list price equates out to roughly 934 bitcoins. Unit 702S is a 4 bedroom, 5.5 bathroom unit spread over 3,603 SF. The unit also features private elevator entry, marble floors, 10' ceilings, staff quarters, a chef's kitchen, Quartz countertops and a 1,000 SF terrace overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Bitcoin is a worldwide cryptocurrency and digital payment system that relies on blockchain, which is "an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way." Bitcoin was released as an open-source software in 2009. 350 Ocean Dr, Key Biscayne, Unit 702S is currently listed for $5.95 with Michael Light of Douglas Elliman.