Can the Bitcoin network be somehow used as a Title transfer service?

[mckeed]

I was thinking about bitcoins the other day and thinking that the blockchain would function really well as a way of keeping track of title and ownership.  I figure that if you have a central record of ownership, things like houses, cars and other large ticket items could be tracked very easily this way.  Things like title insurance and other similar products could be avoided with a ironclad record of ownership.  Would it be possible to build a service around that on the bitcoin protocol?  Essentially associating a bitcoin with a real asset and transferring that bitcoin around would essentially transfer ownership of the asset? Maybe alt-coin that can be merged mined? Or would it be easier to create a completely separate derivative of bitcoin instead to remove itself from the rising or falling tide of bitcoin?  Call it something like TitleCoin.

Is this possible now, just not really used/implemented?  Seems like a natural extension of a transaction to somehow link it to a real asset.

Thoughts?

[BittBurger]

Yes the blockchain can transfer ownership of things other than just currency.  Definitely.

Also look into Ethereum.  It expands upon this greatly.

-B-

[Revolution]

Yes the blockchain can transfer ownership of things other than just currency.  Definitely.

Also look into Ethereum.  It expands upon this greatly.

-B-

This. Its already being used for altcoins, you can use it for anything you want.

[davidpbrown]

See this: Stephan Tual on Ethereum - Latest Innovations in the Crypto Space.

[keithers]

Yes it can, I'm not exactly sure on how you would do it, it is probably still far too difficult for general public

[CtrlAltBernanke420]

security issues still exist, what if someone gets a hold of your private key and transfer the title to your house to someone else... back to the court room and judge and laws and stuff

[Melbustus]

security issues still exist, what if someone gets a hold of your private key and transfer the title to your house to someone else... back to the court room and judge and laws and stuff

You could M of N key-split title to really important stuff. Distributed across you, and a number of trusted/authoritative parties that exist purely for this sort of high-value management.

The M of N nature of the split should work to keep the trusted bodies honest and efficient overall.

[Notanon]

Not quite Bitcoin, but the Peershares project over at peercointalk.org are working on a similar method using the Peercoin blockchain as a backbone. So it could be quite easy to do the same with Bitcoin.

[CtrlAltBernanke420]

Granted if the security issues get resolved which is a still a big if, yes it is possible and it will be quite the paradigm shift. Assuming the world keeps turning without any major issues over the next 20 years.. Im pessimistic about our futures, the protocol and technology will change the world in insurmountable ways.