Conclusion
"We have a vicious circle: enthusiasts generate ideas of the blockchain use but cannot support them with a consistent concept which fit into the overall picture of governance, legislation, and transformation of public services, on the other side governments holding in their hands old fashioned bureaucratic system and but restrain initiatives because they lack systematic approach and theoretical background." - Oleksii Konashevych
Why Now
While this paper isn't the first nor the last that will discuss how blockchain will change real estate, I do think it provides some unique perspectives on this topic. The more I've researched this, the more I've learned of other companies who are also shipping similar products. There are a couple of key developments I believe that play an advantage to Realium's success:
We are building on a platform that is only months old. Avalanche is an extremely exciting technology that solves many of the scalability, security, and centralization problems experienced by other blockchain applications that were built years before.
We are starting to see large institutional support of blockchain and crypto. With some companies betting that Bitcoin will serve as a hedge against the USD, blockchain is no longer just a buzzword, it's now a serious technology with billions of dollars of funding.
The SEC modernized the definition for accredited investors to account for "professional knowledge, experience or certifications in addition to the existing tests for income or net worth." Meaning retail investors with sufficient blockchain knowledge could participate in larger deals.
The Vision
I envision a faster, cheaper, and more frequent home buying experience as part of a more touchless future. I don't think people should be burdened with how complicated the home purchasing process is. I see a future where homes are much more like companies traded on the stock market. Do people really need to know how Robinhood places orders and calls? Are they really concerned with the technological legitimacy of the app? The more I've thought about this question, the more I've realized that the genius of what Robinhood did was creating a better buying and selling experience for normal investors. That's exactly what I hope to achieve with real estate.
I believe blockchain technology has the power to remove many of the complicated intermediaries that slow down the current process while still following the same laws and regulations. So many of the blockchain applications I see are too confusing to use. The developers are so deep into the technology that the only people able to understand their applications are those who are also very active in the space. I hope to build a platform that can educate users on real estate and promote trust within decentralized applications.
Conclusion
Technology moves much quicker than regulation. While real estate serves as one of the most intuitive applications of blockchain, it is also one of the most difficult products to implement. Much of the emphasis of this project and research has been on the documentation of this idea. My goal was to contribute to the body of knowledge on real estate and blockchain and provide new insights into what can be done with these technologies. I've had the opportunity to explore the ins and outs of blockchain over the last two years while also getting hands-on experience with real estate. I've been an early witness to the power of this technology and know it has the power to change how we think of real estate today. Through this process I've had more doors opened for me than I ever imagined. While I still feel like I'm only scratching the surface of what the implications of blockchain are for real estate, I'm thankful to have been able to dedicate the time to see this idea evolve since its inception.
From the beginning, I've known that this idea is a little beyond the current feasibility of what's possible given the current regulations. I still feel like there are many questions left to be answered about how the process works and what it will look like. I've tried my best to explain everything at a fundamental level to show that these concepts are not as intimidating as they seem. In this paper we've discussed blockchain fundamentals, tokenization examples, and scoped out a proof of concept marketplace to allow for the purchase and sale of real estate assets. The technologies discussed in this paper provide a faster, cheaper, and more secure method for transacting real estate. I'm excited to see where Realium goes and hope to continue to add to this field.
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