With blockchain technology rising in popularity, many startups have been working to bring the tool into the real estate industry.

San Francisco-based Propy is a startup working to secure global real estate transactions with the use of blockchain technology. Propy works as a decentralized title registry, allows buyers, sellers, brokers, title/escrow and agents to communicate and utilize the “blockchain” to facilitate transactions remotely.  

Propy operates similarly to services like Opendoor and Homie, but now Cryptocurrency is in play. The website works as a purchasing terminal that also outlines all necessary actions for the sale to go accordingly for all parties involved. This makes purchasing homes across borders much easier because Cryptocurrency trade has nearly no limitations since it’s universal. 

“We can also adapt to the needs of the costumer whether it’s exchanging crypto’s or dollars and other currency’s,” explained Alex Voloshyn, chief technology officer of Propy. 

As blockchain technology has increased in popularity, a variety of companies have been working to bring this technology to market.

Propy also handles the paperwork and government documents that cause potential clients stress when buying a property overseas. Eliminating this excess work saves time and money. 

While the company has a few competitors, according to Voloshyn, they are not the first company to be using blockchain technology. Other companies were testing the technology in bits and pieces. Nonetheless, the more secure and innovative aspect of the blockchain technology will continue to alter the real estate industry. 

Propy uses blockchain technology to authenticate transactions, which could lead to an easier and more secure process. 

Voloshyn said that safety is the company’s biggest priority.  

Hackers have been targeting home buyers to divert funds during the final hours of a deal into a separate account. 

According to the FBI, $969 million in funds were diverted or attempted to be diverted in 2017. The number of wire fraud cases has jumped over 480 percent. 

Blockchain technology, which brings a new level of authentication to a transaction, could secure these transactions, especially when it comes to global real estate transactions. 

Blockchain technology works as a ledger, where each transaction is recorded and chained together will all other transactions within the network. The new transactions are authenticated by a network that conducts a mathematical equation to authenticate the transaction. 

This system is decentralized and much more secure as there isn’t a middle man like a bank in the transaction. 

“Think of it as an Excel spreadsheet,” Voloshyn explains, “Every time somebody adds something to the spreadsheet, its verified by a ton of other systems and then replicated to ensure safety.” 

Bringing blockchain technology into real estate transactions could help curb fraud. 

“We make sure that it’s safe as can be. We don’t send anything over email, everything is encrypted and recorded,” said Voloshyn.