Why 2016 May Be the Year of Real Estate on the Bitcoin BlockchainThe Blockchain Can Save the Real Estate Industry Significant Amounts of Money
When discussing the advantages of the Bitcoin blockchain for property title management, Ragnar Lifthrasir was quick to point out the current costs associated with title insurance and title fraud:
“Putting property titles on the Bitcoin blockchain will bring the real estate industry out of its existing 18th century technology. Title insurance is a $20 billion industry. It’s estimated that the total annual cost of fighting and resolving title fraud is $1 billion.”
Lifthrasir also noted how easy it is for a criminal to create fake documents that can cause serious issues for homeowners. In his view, the Bitcoin blockchain can offer an improved system for tracking property ownership records. He explained:
“Using Photoshop and a $15 stamp, a criminal can create a fake document that transfers ownership of your house to himself. Compare that to what it would take for that criminal to break the cryptography behind Bitcoin. I can’t predict exactly how much time and money would be saved by using the Bitcoin Blockchain for real estate titles, but clearly, it’s significant.”
Lifthrasir is a big believer in the idea of smart property, and he’s currently working with a group of individuals from the International Bitcoin Real Estate Association on an application that will streamline the entire property transfer process. He noted:
“I want to also say that uploading a deed to the blockchain is only half the solution. For full security, the actual transfer of real estate needs to be done with the Bitcoin token. By that I mean a colored coin solution similar to the one NASDAQ and Overstock are using. A couple of us at the International Bitcoin Real Estate Association are currently working on a combination title document plus property transfer app.”
http://insidebitcoins.com/news/why-2016-may-be-the-year-of-real-estate-on-the-bitcoin-blockchain/36126
