Time to Start Thinking About Blockchain in Real Estate

Gordon Smith, CEO of biproxi

If the mere mention of blockchain technology – or cryptocurrency, for that matter – triggers a mix of skepticism, disdain, and confusion, you’re certainly not alone. Much of what is “explained” to us about blockchain in media and academic papers is itself perplexing, filled with jargon like “decentralized distributed ledger” and “cryptographic hash.” Like many technologies, its own complexity has become, in some ways, exclusionary.

Yet blockchain has such universal – and inevitable – applications that it simply cannot be ignored, particularly by the commercial real estate industry. It will soon serve as the very backbone of the way in which we initiate, verify, and complete CRE transactions. That means that brokers, owners, and tenants alike need to start thinking about blockchain as a vital new tool in their daily workflow.