Remember when the idea of paying for everything with a plastic card seemed so out-there and unrealistic? Naysayers of virtual payment platforms like Bitcoin and blockchain have made the same argument.
Blockchain is a database that is neutral and accessible to anyone with a computer. It’s secure and enables participants to issue, transact and store financial assets digitally and in nearly an instant.
Up until May 2, the relevance of blockchain was perhaps its most obvious argument among real estate professionals, but a new partnership could change that.
Chain Open Standard 1 (Chain OS 1), an open source blockchain protocol, was released May 2 after more than a year of development and collaboration between Silicon Valley-based Chain, Inc. and multiple global financial services firms, including Visa, CitiGroup and Capitol One.
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“Chain is a dynamic collaborative partner in both our investment and innovation portfolios, enabling Citi to explore blockchain applications for our customers in currencies, payments and beyond,” said Debby Hopkins, chief innovation officer of Citi and CEO of Citi Ventures, in a statement.
“The Chain Open Standard will greatly advance the progress and future scale of new blockchain use cases in an evolving financial ecosystem,” she said.
The Chain Open Standard was build to enable high-scale financial transactions, like home sales, to run on the same regulatory, security and privacy level, but on the blockchain networks. One of the key components to the model is that it’s intended to be scalable to help reduce the operational load for institutions and individuals on the network.
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What will a blockchain network mean for real estate agents?
Blockchain Asset IDs
Using blockchain networks for home sales transactions can improve security not only of finances, but of the individual the agent is working with on the sale. Transactions would run smoother and faster, thus allowing the agent to focus on other aspects of their job and improving ROI as a whole.
Another valuable component that the Chain Open Standard is pioneering is its privacy solution that “encrypts blockchain data and provides selective read access to relevant counterparties and regulators.”
Asset IDs, similar to CUSIP or ISIN, are unique identifiers that ensure the transaction is running smoothly. These global identifiers can be created infinitely on the Chain Open Standard, and when associated with an Asset Definition smooth the process of transfers, signature gathering and more.
The Chain Open Standard is a contract framework that supports simple rule enforcement through each transaction.
“Chain’s approach puts our partners’ requirements at the center of an iterative and collaborative R&D effort,” Chain CEO Adam Ludwin said in a statement. “By partnering deeply on real projects with market leaders across a range of use cases in banking, payments, capital markets and insurance, we have designed a blockchain standard from the ground-up to solve problems in a cohesive way.”
