Consider this. Think of what it would be like if all property was labeled with a unique identification "number." Then the number was registered, along with pictures of the property, on Internet databases, and in some cases in government recording offices.
Add to the above the blockchain.
Now, rather than transferring a Bitcoin value (a simple number of bitcoins), the thing that was transferred was the identification number. It was transferred and registered on the the blockchain just like a number of bitcoins might be. The only person who owned the property was the last person who held the identification number according to the blockchain. The difference between Bitcoin and this idea is that the ID number would never change like the quantities of bitcoins transferred can change.
What might this mean? It might mean that people could transfer property easily. It might mean that there would be less or no sales tax. It might mean that the current holder could remain relatively anonymous. We wouldn't need banks or even bitcoin, necessarily - simply trade property for property. Governments would be limited in meddling with property transfers.
Sure, you would still have to do some due diligence. In cases of real estate, you would still want to pay a title company to make sure the property was as was stated in the photos... at least the first time it was traded on the blockchain. Other property, say a bicycle for example, could have the identification number removed from it, and placed on another bicycle. So, you would want to do some checking before simply accepting that the property you traded for was the same one in the photos and listed on the blockchain.
One company that is doing this with real estate is the
Atlant Real Estate Blockchain Platform at
https://atlant.io/.
The problem with all of these companies at this stage, is the amount of identification info that can be placed on a practical blockchain. For example, photos might be something way bigger than a blockchain could "carry" and still be practical size-wise. But this is where the Lightning Network, or some other, could be developed to hold side chains. The side chains would hold the bulky info, the pictures, but the main blockchain would only hold the latest ownership address-to-identification-number of the property.
Once the above is properly and effectively implemented, we can truly trade ownership of all property worldwide with fast and easy trading. The trick, again, is imbedding unchanging identification numbers into the blockchain, rather than simply amounts of bitcoins that can be tossed around, divided up, or added to.
