Altisource adds cryptocurrency payment option with new partnership

Online real estate services provider and marketplace Altisource Portfolio Solutions is the latest firm to explore the potential of cryptocurrency, announcing that it will start allowing its use for property purchases and investments made through its subsidiary sites.

Home buyers on Altisource marketplaces Equator.com or Hubzu.com who choose Premium Title — another Altisource-owned company — as their title and escrow provider will now be able to complete their transaction through ForumPay, which will convert the cryptocurrency at a fixed rate and wire funds directly to Premium Title or a closing attorney. Previously, buyers who wished to use cryptocurrency for payment had to convert it to legal tender and then wire funds to escrow from their own personal accounts. Buyers can use ForumPay to convert bitcoin, litecoin, dash, ethereum or bitcoin cash.

“This is a game-changing functionality at the cutting edge of crypto adoption,” said Michael Jansta, senior vice president of marketing, Altisource Marketplaces. “When the value of cryptocurrencies surge to the upside, there are many investors who look to diversify some of those gains into other asset classes.”

Through online marketplaces and auctions on Equator.com and Hubzu.com, Altisource offers real-estate investment opportunities, including foreclosed homes.

The agreement between Altisource and ForumPay follows United Wholesale Mortgage’s August announcement that it would explore the possibility of accepting digital currency for mortgage payments. That same month, officials in Spain proposed legislation that would legalize the use of bitcoin for mortgages and insurance.

But digital currencies have garnered their share of skepticism recently, including from Gary Gensler, Securities and Exchange Commission chair, and Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, who called them “underdeveloped.” President Biden’s nominee to take over as head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Saule Omarova, is also a noted cryptocurrency critic. Among the most common concerns of cryptocurrency cited by experts are its lack of regulations and high volatility. The value of bitcoin this year alone has fluctuated between approximately $30,000 and $60,000. At the close of trading on Monday, its value stood at $49,165.

Altisource’s announcement led to an initial spike in the first minutes of trading of its stock price, which rose 2.3% from $10.14 to $10.37. At close on Monday, its value had fallen to $9.99.