Chinese buying homes in London can pay with bitcoins

Chinese homebuyers with bitcoins to spare can now use the virtual currency to snap up London properties.

London-based Cai-Capital, formed in October last year, says it is the first broker in the British capital to accept bitcoins for payment on property purchases.

Firmly in its sights are investors from China, with an unsubtle pitch from the agency on the benefits that bitcoin affords in helping wealthy mainlanders skirt Beijing's foreign exchange restrictions.

"We believe that [China] could be a large market, simply because of the [mainland's] currency restriction," said Richard Mathieson, chairman and managing director of Cai-Capital.

Mathieson's agency is helping two Hong Kong buyers complete deals for London properties by using bitcoin.

Beijing is taking steps to discourage investment in bitcoin and reduce trading of the virtual currency by mainland banks.

Legal experts said that while bitcoin would enable mainlanders to bypass Beijing's foreign exchange curbs, the virtual currency was perceived by many as risky. Large fluctuations in value, the prospect of more regulations and the threat posed by hackers were just some of the downsides, they said.