Bitcoin's opportunities and challenges in real estate

2018-03-21T18:31:00-04:00

Today, listings from one coast to another tout Bitcoin as a way to make a property transaction. A new collection of haute residences in Hollywood with Los Angeles skyline views go for $1.21 million or its Bitcoin equivalent; in Washington, D.C., two-bedroom condos are on the market for between 36 and 84 Bitcoins. In Austin, the seller of one ranch is offering a “signficant discount” if the buyer pays with Bitcoin.

Great longform piece by Andrew Zaleski for Curbed on how Bitcoin, blockchain technology, and other cryptocurrencies have changed—or not changed—the real estate industry. "While there are laws in Arizona and Vermont that allow blockchain technology to play key parts in property sales and proving property ownership, in most states, aspects of the process still involve traditional financial institutions—and Bitcoin as a currency isn’t necessarily a safe enough bet for the relatively risk-averse world of real estate."

Could property ownership be automated?

2016-10-17T13:25:00-04:00

What’s extraordinary about a smart contract is that it gives blockchain the power to not only record property rights but enforce them. Once deployed, a dozen lines of computer code can fulfill the same role as the county records office, the courts and the police. You can have “the function of a trusted bureaucracy without the expense of putting together a trusted bureaucracy”, Waldman explains.

The homeowner posts a price for the rental. The renter sends the money through her smartphone. Inside the front door is a very small computer connected to the internet. The computer knows when the renter is allowed to enter and unlocks the door for her when she pushes a button on her phone.

Smart contracts run on blockchain ledgers, the same technology that enables Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. For more on the possible spatial ramifications of this technology, check out some past Archinect coverage:

Archinect - News

Bitcoin's opportunities and challenges in real estate

Could property ownership be automated?