Is 2016 the Year Real Estate Blockchain Launches?

Ragnar Lifthrasir is a real estate financial technology entrepreneur and president of the International Bitcoin Real Estate Association. He is interested in using the Bitcoin blockchain to improve overall efficiency in the real estate industry and will discuss this topic at the upcoming Blockchain Agenda Conference in San Diego.

Lifthrasir recently shared some of his thoughts on the future of real estate applications for Bitcoin. In short, he believes that blockchain technology will have many improvements over traditional methods of real estate record keeping.

Blockchain can significantly save costs in the real estate industry

When discussing the advantages of the Bitcoin blockchain for property deed management, Lifthrasir was quick to point out the current costs associated with deed insurance and deed fraud.

Lifthrasir noted that it would be easy for a criminal to compromise a homeowner by forging documents. He argued that the Bitcoin blockchain offers an improved system for tracking property ownership records.

“A criminal can forge a document to transfer the title to your home using Photoshop and a $15 stamp. To do the same, a criminal would need to break through the cryptography behind Bitcoin. I can’t predict exactly how much time and money using the Bitcoin blockchain for real estate deeds would save, but it’s clear that it would be a lot.”

Lifthrasir is a big believer in the concept of smart property. He is currently working with a team from the International Bitcoin Real Estate Association to develop an application that will simplify the entire asset transfer process. He mentioned:

“I would also say that uploading deeds to the blockchain is only part of the equation. To be fully secure, the transfer of real estate would also need to be done with Bitcoin tokens. I mean colored coins similar to what NASDAQ and Overstock are using. A few of us at the International Bitcoin Real Estate Association are currently working on an app that integrates deed management and asset transfers.”

Don’t waste time selling blockchain technology to governments

When it comes to deed management for things like homes, cars, and other forms of assets, most people think of government records, and it’s clear that Bitcoin is a significant improvement over the current system. However, Lifthrasir believes that people shouldn’t waste time explaining blockchain to governments. He mentioned:

“It would be nice if the government used the Bitcoin blockchain to record property, but I don’t think it’s worth the time and effort to convince the government to do that. Real estate companies and investors don’t need the government to do their business. The state clerk’s office is just a centralized repository for photocopies, there’s nothing magical about it.

Lifthrasir added that the Bitcoin blockchain allows the real estate industry to avoid the inefficiencies of current government record-keeping agencies:

“Now we have Bitcoin. Bitcoin, by its very nature, is a much better way for parties to agree on ownership of a property, especially when one party is trying to defraud the other, as happens in the property deed world. So, if only people in the real estate industry would start deciding to use the Bitcoin blockchain to record property transfers, why would they bother with the delays, costs, and inefficiencies of government?”

Blockchain is better than government record keeping

Many Bitcoin enthusiasts believe that digital currency is superior to the current legal tender system, but blockchain is not only used for currency, it also has many broader applications. Lifthrasir described the purpose of the International Bitcoin Real Estate Association as bringing together professionals in the industry who want to integrate various businesses into the blockchain.

“Just as Bitcoin on the blockchain provides a superior alternative to government-managed currency, Bitcoin on the blockchain provides a superior alternative to government-managed record keeping. One of the primary purposes of the International Bitcoin Real Estate Association is to bring together professionals who want to purchase, escrow and record the transfer of property using Bitcoin.”

Although many still believe that Bitcoin has yet to fully prove itself, Lifthrasir believes that Bitcoin technology is now mature for use in the real estate industry. Given his involvement in real estate and blockchain technology, Lifthrasir is confident that property deed management will move to the blockchain in 2016. He mentioned:

“Bitcoin will eventually mature enough technically to be used in the real estate industry. Now, what we need is more startups to provide good products and services. I think 2016 will be the year of Bitcoin real estate.”

If you want to hear more about Lifthrasir’s ideas for bringing the real estate industry to bitcoin, be sure to attend the upcoming Blockchain Agenda conference in San Diego, December 14-16.