When you’re in the market for a new home, you probably have a lot of things on your mind: square footage, school districts, mortgages rates.
One thing you’re probably not spending much time thinking about: Bitcoin.
But perhaps cryptocurrency and blockchain technology will soon be a major consideration for property purchasers and sellers. At least that’s what some Boulder County real estate professionals are gearing up for. “Blockchain and cryptocurrency really has the ability to change every aspect of real estate, from titles, to lending, to the brokerage itself,”
Simply put, cryptocurrency — the most famous and valuable example is Bitcoin — is a form of verifiable and transferrable digital money that exists independent of centralized banks. The blockchain is technology that uses large computer networks to create a decentralized ledger or database that tracks activities such as the transfer of bitcoin. A lot of smart business people are using this technology to tackle really important things like real estate. The use of cryptocurrency also opens up local markets — such as real estate in Boulder County — to a global pool of customers and investors.
Blockchain technology could help make the process of buying or selling a home more efficient by streamlining the titling process and eliminating the need to shuttle documents to and from the county clerk’s office, experts say. The transparency afforded by the blockchain can also help reduce the potential for fraud “and really move the needle to help people realize we can have a more secure environment.
Blockchain technology is the only reason Bitcoin has been shot into the limelight. What made Bitcoin attractive was its decentralized feature, wherein, no single regulatory body can completely control it, making it a truly democratic currency. In addition, Blockchain set a new standard for transparency by removing the requirement of a third party in the transactions and bringing down the transaction fee to a minuscule amount. All these features together ultimately propelled a convincing case for the creation of cryptocurrencies and its mining. However, experts are divided in their opinion as to how successful cryptocurrencies could be in the future. Blockchain, on the other hand, is now going beyond the hype it has created and has found its way into many potential applications.