Cleveleys pensioner hopes to be one of the first in UK to sell home in Bitcoins

Bob Norburn, 73, decided to put his house in Crossway, on the market two weeks ago when business offers in Canada became too good to refuse.

In 2019, retired aerospace engineer Bob designed the ‘BLT’ lobster trap, which secured a patent and a contract deal in Canada.

Bob and his wife Pauline, a retired nurse, decided to seize the opportunity to work there and be closer to their son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, who also live across the Atlantic.

The three-bed detached house has been listed for offers over £325,000, but Bob has also asked his estate agent to acknowledge offers made in the crypto-currency.

Each Bitcoin is essentially a computer file stored in a digital ‘wallet’ on a smartphone or computer. Transactions – Bitcoins sent to and from those wallets – are recorded in a list called the blockchain.

In recent years, the value against the pound has soared, with early adopters making fortunes. One Bitcoin is currently worth around £40,000.

Bob said: “My son Matthew got into Bitcoin in the early days and I told him it was a load of rubbish. But it caught my attention so I thought I’d have a little bet on Bitcoin and I picked them up for a lot less than they are now.

“I can’t imagine that in the whole of Blackpool there aren’t some people sitting on Bitcoins not knowing what to do with them.

“So why not buy a house? The value of them goes up and down every day but someone could offer me the asking price in Bitcoins, instead of pounds.

“I haven’t seen anything online about anyone in the UK doing this before, except for a couple of new-builds which were sold in Bitcoins down south somewhere. I think I could be the one of the first.”

Bob’s estate agent, John Johnson from Poulton agency Butson Blofeld, said he was looking into the possibilities of taking offers in Bitcoin.

He said: “We’re just looking at the legalities of it. We’re just trying to get used to this at the moment because obviously we’ve never done this before either.”