Young man buys first home with cryptocurrency

TUKWILA, Wa. (Q13 / FOX 26) - Cary Kuo, who lives in Washington, used a few thousand dollars to buy digital money in high school a few years ago. Just a few short years later, Kuo's investment has led him to buy his first home at the age of 23. Kuo did it all through cryptocurrency. Like any typical new homeowner, Kuo has ideas for his new place.

"I'm gonna change out all the doorknobs, do various things," says Kuo.

His three bedroom, two-bathroom home in Tukwila looks like any traditional home.  

"I've always loved these Riverstone walls," adds Kuo. He is anything but typical or traditional. The 23-year-old electrical engineer says he`s been investing money since junior high school.

"Early 9th grade until this past year, I had the bulk of my money in the stock market," describes Kuo.

When his friends told him about investing in cryptocurrency, Kuo was hesitant at first.

"I didn`t buy into it for a long time," admits Kuo. Then, he became intrigued and looked into which cryptocurrency was best for him.

"Augur, Litecoin, there`s Monero, Ripple, there`s so many," says Kuo. He decided to try his first investment in the digital marketplace this in June 2017.

"In one day, I put in $4,500," explains Kuo.  

Cryptocurrency rates change rapidly, but he says a few thousand can quickly become a whole lot more.

"$4,500 can easily become $45,000," says Kuo, who added to that initial investment over the next few months. "Some investments, I make 300 percent return in just a month." 

Less than half a year later, he was able to pay more than $400,000 for this home solely off the profits of his cryptocurrency investments. 

"I had no idea it was a novel thing," says Kuo. "My agent texted me saying, 'Fannie Mae said you may be one of the first.'"

That agent, Nelya Calev, says when Kuo told her he`d be buying with cryptocurrency, there were a lot of unknowns. 

"It just went way over my head," says Calev. She also says with normal home purchases, there are experts you can reach out to for help. 

"With crypto and Bitcoin, there are no people we can go to," adds Calev. 

In the end, Kuo cashed out his cryptocurrencies for regular U.S. dollars to buy the home and he plans to repeat his crypto real estate purchases. 

"I think I`m gonna try to buy a property every year," adds Kuo.