Rob Nelson – the anchor of Roundtable – recently hosted a discussion with Julio Caceres, the CEO of BRiX Fractional Real Estate, to figure out how real estate can be aided by the growth of blockchain.
Real Estate and Blockchain: Future Companions?
In the discussion, Caceres discussed what he finds most difficult in trying to implement blockchain into his business and into real estate in general, and what kind of regulatory issues he’s had to deal with.
The idea of putting real estate on the blockchain is nothing new. It’s a discussion that’s been had for many years, and there are several analysts out there who believe blockchain can potentially make the real estate game much easier to play.
For example, they think blockchain can make things more transparent. A house is placed into a network’s ledger and thus, all owners – past and present – can see right then and there when the house was built, who’s lived there, and if it’s had any serious problems.
Also, things could potentially get simpler when trying to purchase real estate, especially in times like what we’re seeing now, where interest rates are abnormally high, and many people have been cut out of home ownership and the American dream altogether.
Nelson opened the discussion by commenting on the SEC’s present approach to crypto and blockchain regulation. He said this will undoubtedly make things hard for all real estate agents looking to incorporate digital finance into their business. He said:
It’s really hard right now because the SEC won’t even answer Coinbase’s request for regulatory guidance.
Caceres agreed, though he doesn’t think his business will have much trouble down the line. He said:
We’re not worried because we followed all the guidelines, and then we also have SEC lawyers and corporate lawyers that are backing us.
Nelson retorted that Coinbase had the same items in place regarding regulation before the SEC came after it. Caceres then said:
Right now, our saturation rate is about two percent… As soon as it reaches five percent saturation, which is in the next two to three years, everybody’s going to know about us.
He also hinted that his business is looking into an NFT launch to ensure all future real estate is recorded on a digital ledger and can be sold and offered through the most democratic means. He mentioned:
That’s exactly what we’re doing in our blockchain. Everything gets documented and recorded. Even if you came [in] seven years later, you could see all the way back from when it was purchased seven years ago.
People Need to Open Up!
At the end of the day, Caceres said the biggest problem stems from people’s fear of new technologies. He said:
People are… just like when Uber came out… There was skepticism.
