Blockchain technology—thetechnology behind crypto currencies—could change the real estatemarket, but the industry has been slow to adopt it. That is becausesome myths have perpetuated dangers of the technology, butNatalia Karayaneva, CEO of Propy,a global real estate marketplace that has completed transactionsusing blockchain technology, says that many of the myths anddangers associated with blockchain are false.

“It's not very surprising the real estate market has yet tofully embrace blockchain technology, considering real estate is aslow-moving industry and blockchain is still relatively newtechnology,” Karayaneva tells GlobeSt.com. “It's an archaicindustry and, therefore, slow to adopt new technology in any form.With widespread government approval and increased implementation ofblockchain in other major industries, the real estate industry willadopt blockchain technology more quickly—there are manyapplications in blockchain technology still to come.”

There are three major false myths that Karayaneva says have keptthe industry from adopting the technology. The first is thatblockchain is not secure. However, she says, major blockchainsplatforms like Ethereum or Bitcoin have never been hacked.“Although some applications on top of blockchain have been hacked,ledgers cannot be hacked,” she explains. “Since hashes link eachblock with all the blocks behind it and ahead of it, distributedledgers will reject any record with altered data, so nothing can bechanged from either simple human error or intended malice.” Thesecond myth is that blockchains are home to illegal activity,making them dangerous for real estate transactions. “While it'strue that criminals can use the blockchain for illegal activities,criminals can also use highways to carry drugs,” adds Karayaneva.“No one is calling highways “hotbeds of illegal activity”—we usethem every day to perform legal, necessary tasks. In the same way,blockchain is used for legitimate purposes, which render itirreplaceable.” Lastly, there is a myth that blockchain can only beused to trade crypto currencies, however, there are many ways thatblockchain can be used, like to securely record documents and forrecord-keeping. “South Burlington, Vermont, is testing blockchainto record real estate conveyance documents because blockchainsprevent errors in record-keeping and accelerate transactions byeliminating third-party verifications,” says Karayaneva. Karayanevabelieves that these myths have been perpetuated because there is ageneral misunderstanding about the compliance and legality ofblockchain in real estate and there is concern that the deals thattake place on blockchain are not compliant with legal requirements.“Industry parties fear that governments will not accept conveyanceinformation recorded on the blockchain,” says Karayaneva. “Propyaims to shift the perception of blockchain in the real estateindustry by demonstrating how blockchain makes property transferseasier, faster and safer for both governments and consumers.”