Terrance Leonard, a Washington, D.C. resident who works as a software engineer, used his cryptocurrency investments to purchase a $650,000 home. Leonard first became aware of cryptocurrency in 2013, but he only started investing seriously in 2019, hoping to achieve financial independence, MarketWatch reported. 

"I was stationed at Fort Meade in Maryland, just outside Washington D.C., after transferring to information warfare from the naval flight officer community. When I left the navy in 2015 I began working as a software engineer in Seattle and then later in the Bay Area," Leonard wrote in a piece for Newsweek. "Cryptocurrency didn't really come up again until 2018 when a colleague was talking about it."  

After speaking with his colleague, the software engineer decided to invest enough in crypto and cash out of some of his investments, then purchase real-estate assets and rent out the properties to earn additional income. Leonard, who already owned a house, then saw his ideal home.

"In 2020 I found my dream house," he wrote. "It's a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom split colonial property in southeast Washington, D.C. It has a garage and a great back yard. I have a dog, so for him, the place is great." 

Although he used his investments to purchase the 650,000 home, the veteran faced some difficulties during the transaction. 

"I had to provide proof of funds for my mortgage loan, but this couldn't be done using my cryptocurrency digital wallet," he said. "So I had to sell some cryptocurrency. I wasn't really ready at the time to liquidate as much crypto as I did because I knew its value had the potential to increase. I actually lost money going through the process, but I wanted the house so I wasn't bothered."

Leonard paid $50,000 in total for the "earnest money and down payment." 

"Everything I paid upfront was all from cryptocurrency," he said. "Going forward, the monthly mortgage payments will come from my salary." 

Leonard invested $2,000 in 2019. When he realized that his investments were gaining value, he cashed out his 401k and reinvested it into cryptocurrency. In April 2021, his crypto investments reached $1 million in value.

The entrepreneur doesn't invest heavily into Bitcoin. Instead, he said he chooses to invest in cryptocurrencies that have "real world value and that are environmentally friendly."

"I'm not an expert, but I see Bitcoin as being what MySpace was to social media," Leonard said. "It was the first but, in my opinion, not necessarily the best. If you think about it in social media terms, MySpace preceded Instagram, Facebook and many others. There are now thousands of cryptocurrencies available."

According to Markets Insider, more than 106 million people around the world are now using cryptocurrencies. 

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