Factom clarifies Honduras blockchain land titling project after it stalls

Blockchain ledger startup Factom has released a new update on the Honduran government’s blockchain land titling project, saying its previously announced proof-of-concept project has “stalled.”

In a new blog post, Factom CEO Peter Kirby discusses the difficulty of negotiating land titling projects with global governments, while also pointing out problems with previous initiatives.

The controversy arose earlier this year when Reuters reported in May that Factom had entered into a partnership with the Honduran government that would see the country use distributed ledger technology to record land titles.

Following the news, blockchain technology advocates widely cited Factom’s partnership with the Honduran government, even though Honduran government officials have never publicly commented on the deal.

Kirby said:

“We have tried to get our reporters in touch with Honduran government officials directly, but they were unable to comment for their own reasons.”

Other members of the blockchain community accused Factom of allowing rumors to spread and misleading the public into believing that its service was successful.

Caught in controversy

Earlier this year, in a Factom Skype group, one of its founders, Paul Snow, said that Factom may not be able to complete the previously stated deal with the Honduran government.

Paul Snow told a Counterparty representative that reports of the company's deal with the Honduran government were inaccurate and that the project had stalled for "political reasons."

Snow said the article "misinterpreted" the company's message and that representatives of the Honduran government had made no effort to correct the story.

Some critics have suggested that Factom’s failure to disclose the true nature of the protocol was intended to build momentum for its crowdfunding plans, but Factom’s Kirby has also denied this.

Kirby said Factom had received a letter of intent from the Honduran government to test recording land titles on the Bitcoin blockchain in La Ceiba, the country’s fourth-largest city. The CEO further said that Factom never said their transaction went beyond a proof of concept, although it is looking to expand the project to the entire country of Honduras.

The evidence is unclear

Factom also provided details on the nature of the proposed transaction between the two parties. It included emails between Honduran government officials and Factom, as well as a non-binding letter of intent to form a joint venture.

A Factom representative said Snow’s comments were taken out of context and the company believes the Reuters report is inaccurate.

However, in the new statement, Kirby also provided an explanation for why the Honduran government has remained silent on Factom’s partnership project.

“The letter of intent between the Honduran government, Factom, and Epigraph includes some confidentiality that requires us to remain silent on the business model and non-technical details of the project,” Kirby said.

The Honduran government had not responded to CoinDesk’s request for comment by press time.

Original article: http://www.coindesk.com/debate-factom-land-title-honduras/
By Pete Rizzo
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