Blockchain Archives

April 23, 2024April 25, 2024

Can Blockchain Help Turn Vacant Buildings Into Homes Again? Baltimore Thinks So.

The city of Baltimore plans to record all its 13,000+ empty houses and townhouses on the blockchain.

And it all started with Ebony Thompson’s class project.

March 12, 2024April 25, 2024

Bitcoin Creating New Home Buyers? Why We’re Watching the Crypto Effect on Real Estate Markets

Bitcoin is now available from mainstream financial managers. Suddenly, it’s a significant part of U.S. investment and retirement portfolios. So, bitcoin is joining real estate as an asset class.

At this point, the leading cryptocurrency can influence the costs of housing in some markets. Its rise even allows some people to buy their first homes.

Let’s take a closer look.

February 24, 2024April 25, 2024

Can We Record Deeds on the Blockchain?

Blockchain, the underlying technology of cryptocurrency, is a digital recording system, leading innovators to wonder if it could solve challenges in deed recording.

The U.S. deed recording system is tried and true. At the same time, title defects and tangled titles are much too common. Additionally, deed fraud harms vulnerable homeowners..

What if our title system moved to the blockchain? A “blocktitle” system, as Dawson Sanders at the University of Southern California calls it, would transform real estate transactions.

February 1, 2024April 25, 2024

Blockchain for Real Estate: It’s Coming.

If you’ve ever bought a house, condo, or co-op, you’ll know it’s a major process. Many joyful buys took a good deal of trudging through weeks of stressful communication challenges. The journey was loaded with people, paperwork, and fees. Why do we put ourselves through it? Because getting into the market is a key wealth-building method.

But could there be a better way?

Tokenization seems ready-made to simplify real estate deals. To say an asset is tokenized means it’s represented by a token on a blockchain.

January 4, 2024April 25, 2024

Real Estate or Bitcoin? In 2024, Investors Consider the Tradeoffs

Bitcoin watchers have noticed surprising amounts of real estate profits being converted into bitcoin. The reason comes down to unpredictable returns in real estate for wealthy investor-buyers.

At the same time, “Bitcoin, as an emerging asset class, potentially offers much higher growth potential for many investors,” writes Nik Hoffman for Bitcoin Magazine.

Wow, much potentially potential! But seriously, does this have any relevance for regular home buyers? Let’s take a look.

December 8, 2023April 25, 2024

Mr. Cooper Mortgage Payment System Breached. Are Digital Currencies the Solution?

October 31 was a spooky day for many. A cyberattack impacted millions of Mr. Cooper mortgage customers. Mr. Cooper is the biggest non-bank mortgage service provider in the United States. Its borrowers were unable to transfer last month’s mortgage payments by their due date.

A week later, on November 7, business consultant and popular YouTube influencer CryptoWendyO posted a video describing “How Crypto Can Solve the Alarming Issue in Mortgages.” The media didn’t cover the Mr. Cooper data breach, said Wendy. And the company, under SEC rules, didn’t have to notify borrowers for 30 days. But word got out through TikTok.

On November 9, Forbes Advisor reported on “a new headache”: Mr. Cooper customers’ personal data was exposed in the attack. A press release from Mr. Cooper announced that the company was “working around the clock with cybersecurity experts to resolve this issue as soon as possible.” The company promised to “help resolve any negative credit reporting tied to the delay in mortgage payments.” Yikes.

And Forbes Advisor stated: There’s no way to ensure that data held by your mortgage provider or other financial company will be kept safe in the event of a cyberattack. Yikes again.

November 14, 2023April 25, 2024

Digital Real Estate Titles? Watch What Wall Street Says About Blockchain

Some of Wall Street’s biggest banks — Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, the list goes on — are quietly integrating blockchain, the technology that spawned bitcoin, into their businesses. In fact, Wall Street firms have been experimenting with blockchain for years.

Regardless of what bitcoin does, blockchain technology will flourish. Tom Farley, ex-president of the New York Stock Exchange, says it will “rewire all financial services.”

Walmart Inc. has used blockchain in the company’s supply chain monitoring. In the world of deeds, some title companies have used it for recording homeownership, as the Wall Street Journal has reported.

November 12, 2023April 25, 2024

Blockchain for Good: Can Smart Contracts Play a Community-Building Role?

Holding the deed to real estate is long associated with stability and financial security. What if some of that security could be shared by — and build up— communities?

This article is a thought experiment. Let’s imagine how things could play out if local residents could invest small amounts in a building. How would this unfold? Could blockchain make community-based real estate investments happen?

October 17, 2023April 25, 2024

Did They Really Just Say That?

“A glut of mediocre Realtors is screwing over homebuyers,” says Entrepreneur.com. Is that just clickbait, or a serious remark?

And hey! If we didn’t have agents, what exactly would home buying look like?

August 22, 2023April 25, 2024

Volatility? Seasoning? NAR’s Advice on Working With Bitcoin Buyers

Bitcoin is volatile. It can change in value from one month (or day) to the next.

To a mortgage lender, bitcoin is a non-cash asset. It must be sold before the deal can go through. In other words, holding digital currency is like holding a Patek Philippe gold watch. Or a retirement fund. The holder must turn the value into cash before turning it into a home.

After conversion, a large deposit shows up in the holder’s bank account. Lenders scrutinize unusual deposits. So a mortgage applicant should season those converted funds ahead of the time they’ll be needed — at least two months in advance, most lenders say.