Blockchain technology adoption is now entering the U.S. real estate industry, thanks in large part to one small New England city. South Burlington in Vermont recently announced a new memorandum of a pilot test launch of blockchain technology for real estate transactions. In this realm, new technology aims to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and streamline the transaction process.
Blockchain Title Registry Now Underway in Vermont
In this experimental pilot project, South Burlington in Vermont is starting a blockchain-based title registry with real deeds. Normally, when someone buys a piece of property, then a title deed gets created. From there, the closing agent who is assigned to the property delivers the title deed to the land registry office. After that, the land registry official needs to copy the document, stamp the original one, and return it to the closing agent. Finally, the closing agent records another copy of this deed for his or her database. As one can see, this is a long and tedious process. However, it is one that can vastly be improved with the efficiencies of blockchain technology.
How Blockchain Technology Helps South Burlington’s Real Estate Market
After signing this new memorandum, South Burlington will go forward with blockchain technology to help eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy. The city of South Burlington will store copies of deeds on the Ethereum blockchain, with the assistance of a California-based property tech (PropTech) firm. The city will scan, hash, and store all documents on the blockchain, meaning that there will be one transparent location for everyone to view these documents. It creates an authentic proof of record that no one can manipulate, and it also eliminates the time-consuming process of copying, signing, and passing around the documents.
South Burlington to Inspire America for Blockchain Adoption
As new technology infiltrates mainstream industries around the world, South Burlington is an important testing ground. If the project is successful, then other cities and state governments will potentially start blockchain initiatives of their own.
Stagnant bureaucracy is a major problem for governments around the world. It slows up the process and takes up valuable resources that could be used elsewhere. Blockchain adoption can help to improve efficiency and transparency, as well as cut costs for governments.
