CURRENTS NEW & NOTEWORTHY“We told the sellers, ‘We’re going to
make you an off er in bitcoin,’” Sharp
says. “He’s old-school, he’s actually an
ex-FBI agent, and he didn’t understand
how this 35-year-old guy was spending
that kind of money on a boat and paying
cash. They couldn’t conceptually under-
stand that, all from trading something
that only exists in cyberspace.”
Denison, however, had been preparing
to seize the opportunity, so the seller
didn’t have to fi gure it out. The company
converted the buyer’s bitcoin into the
seller’s dollars and closed, in a normal
amount of time, what became its second
brokerage-yacht deal ( both for midrange
catamarans) with cryptocurrency buyers.
And right now, according to company
President Bob Denison, the fi rm is fi nal-
izing the contract for what is believed to
be the fi rst bitcoin-funded large-yacht
charter, in the Mediterranean aboard a
motoryacht in the 120- to 130-foot range.
“I think you’re going to hear soon about
somebody buying a big, big boat with
bitcoin,” Denison says. “People who in-
vested in bitcoin years ago have millions,
in some cases tens of millions, and in two
cases, hundreds of millions of dollars
in profi t. If they’re reading this article,
I would certainly love to talk to them
about some boats.”
Denison’s fi rm recently went beyond
the currency-conversion sales model
for brokerage boats and also agreed to
accept bitcoin for new-yacht inventory.
“We will actually receive full payment
in bitcoin,” Denison says. “We have a
bitcoin wallet with zero transaction fees.
If somebody wants to buy a Hatteras, a
Beneteau or a Fountaine-Pajot, it would
go straight from their bitcoin wallet to
our bitcoin wallet. We’re ready for their
transaction.”
Sharp says he hopes to be the broker
who completes more and more of those
bitcoin sales. Because Denison Yachting,
as of press time, is one of the only — if
not the only — mainstream brokerage
fi rms to accept bitcoin, its press release
about the recent sale has caught the at-
tention of clients who are active in the
cryptocurrency market, which includes
bitcoin competitors such as ethereum.
“I’ve got a number of other clients,” Sharp
says. “A guy that I met down in Grenada
almost 10 years ago when I was running
the Moorings base there, he reached out
to me after seeing the press release. He
said, ‘I’m really glad that you’re up on
the cryptocurrency thing, because I’m
ready to buy another boat back in the U.K.,
and in the past few years, I’ve turned
$60,000 into bitcoin and ethereum.’
We’re looking at million-dollar yachts.”
As far as Sharp is concerned, every yacht
broker should understand cryptocur-
rencies, just as they understand dollars,
pounds sterling and euro.
“It’s going to be here,” Sharp says. “It’s
going to stay. You might as well educate
yourself on it so you can talk about it.”“I THINK YOU’RE
GOING TO HEAR
SOON ABOUT
SOMEBODY BU Y-
ING A BIG, BIG BOAT
WITH BITCOIN.
PEOPLE WHO IN-
VESTED YEARS AGO
HAVE MILLIONS.”
— BOB DENISON18 YACHTING MARCH 2018istock/skodonnellBITCOIN BUBBLE: B I T C O I N B U B B L E : THE DIGITAL SCOOP
Broker Wiley Sharp at Denison Yachting has several clients interested in buying yachts with cryptocurrency, so Broker Wiley S harp a t Denison Yachting h as several clients i nterested i n b uying yachts with cryptocurrency, so
he’s educated himself about how the digital money works. For anyone who wants to understand bitcoin, hehe’s e ducated h imself a bout h ow t he d igital money works. For anyone who wants to understand bitcoin, he
sayays, a good place to start is by watching YouTube videos and opening a Coinbase account, which provides s, a good p lace t o start i s by watching YouTube videos a nd o pening a Coinbase account, which provides
a window into how the market functions. “Would I recommend pulling out all the money from your 401(k) a window i nto h ow t he market f unctions. “Would I recommend pulling o ut a ll the money from your 401(k)
and putting it in cryptocurrency today? Probably not,” he says. “But if you have $500 and want to play with it and p utt ing i t i n c ryptocurrency t oday? Probably n ot,” he says. “But i f y ou have $500 a nd want to play with it
to understand how it works and see the market, that’s OK. Remember the news clips from the ’90s with the to u nderstand h ow i t works a nd s ee t he market, t hat’s OK. Remember the n ews clips from the ’90s with the
newscasters laughing about the internet? That’s what this is now.” Anyone with questions, he says, can fi nd him on newscasters l aughing a bout t he i nternet? That’s what t his is now.” Anyone with questions, he says, can fi nd him on
YouTube. Or Facebook. Or Instagram. Or LinkedIn. However buyers want to talk, he says, he’s ready to listen.YouTube. Or Facebook. Or I nstagram. Or LinkedIn. However buyers want t o talk, he says, he’s ready to listen.