A historical downtown property in Fond du Lac is for sale, but not for U.S. dollars.

The asking price for the more than 100-year-old former Elks Lodge is forty bitcoins, which today is worth about $290,000.

"What we were surprised by Bitcoin is that you can do this at a private level so this isn't a government issuing money,” Bryan Engelhardt, Associate Professor at UW Oshkosh’s Department of Economics said. “It's just this network of individuals."

Meaning Bitcoin can be used in different countries and online.

Wednesday one bitcoin is being traded at the equivalent of more than $7,000.

The currency was created in 2009 and has grown substantially in value since 2015

"I'm a believer in Bitcoin,” Bryan Perl, owner of the property, said. “I'm on buying and selling, creating wealth with other assets."

That's why Perl is selling the former Elks Lodge for bitcoin and not accepting any traditional dollars.

The Realtor told us Wednesday it may be a smaller group of buyers but they're confident it can sell.

Professors we spoke to Wednesday say bitcoin isn't the only digital currency out there and it does involve risks.

"Bitcoin's a little bit more dangerous to hold because it's volatile day to day,” Engelhardt said. “So bitcoin can go down 10 percent a particular day, where the value of the dollar holds its true value"

"It's all about trust,” Merton Finkler, Lawrence University Professor of Economics said. “If you hold these things can you use them to buy things you want. I would not use them for purposes of long term investments."

Perl says that the bitcoin cost for the house can vary as the value for the digital currency goes up and down.