German housing agency to offer bitcoin rental payments

The new currency Bitcoin is presently a hot topic. Until now only internet experts have been able to get hold of Bitcoins via "Mining" bitcoins. Most individuals have had to purchase Bitcoins via internet exchanges. Now for the first time there is a simple way to directly earn Bitcoins: 9flats.com ( http://www.9flats.com ), The German market leader for short term renting of private living spaces, which provides an alternative to hotels, offers its hosts from now on Bitcoin as a payment method.

Stephan Uhrenbacher, CEO of 9flats: "As a global platform we often face difficulties in transferring money to hosts in one of our 159 countries. Our hosts have asked repeatedly for other payment options. Bitcoin is a payment option which is easy to integrate with less transaction costs than other international payment methods. That's why we welcome and support this currency. We believe Bitcoin is a great way to transfer money, but not a secure way to store money."

Regardless whether the guest decides to pay their booking in Euro or Bitcoin the host can choose if they want to receive payment in Bitcoin. The exchange rate is determined at the time of the payment by the guest and the payout is then made in Bitcoin.

Disclaimer: 9flats does not advise to invest in Bitcoin. The value of the currency can rapidly go up or down and investors might lose their money. Directly in the payment process Bitcoin are converted into the respective currency (mostly Euro) right at the time of the transaction. This ensures that neither we or the guests are subject to the potential risk of currency exchange rate fluctuations. Should the host decide to keep hold of their Bitcoins and not exchange them then one might benefit from a possible rise and also bears the full risk of falling rates.