The use of bitcoin technology in the real estate industry has been one of the newer areas of development for the cryptocurrency these days, and Honduras has shown some progress in incorporating the blockchain in creating a registry for land titles.
The country, which is one of the poorest nations in the Americas, has grapped with land title issues in the past. In particular, the land title database has frequently gotten hacked, allowing some bureaucrats to conduct fraudulent operations in securing properties.
Bitcoin Technology Applications
Texas-based company Factom confirmed this potential partnership with Honduras’ government, as the bitcoin technology group has been contracted to build a secure land title registry using the underlying features of blockchain. According to Factom president Peter Kirby, they will be doing this project in tandem with Epigraph, a title software company that also uses blockchain technology.
Blockchain refers to a public ledger of transactions involving the cryptocurrency, as this adds a layer of verification and security to the system. Honduras is actually not the first country to tap into this bitcoin technology as Isle of Man is already testing a government-run blockchain-related project.
Government officials of Honduras declined to comment on the proposed use of blockchain applications on securing their registry of land titles while Factom has also refused to share details on the costs associated with the project. Kirby did clarify that they started negotiations with the government of Honduras back in February and that the project is already underway, set to be completed possibly by the end of this year.
Apart from building a database of land titles, this application could also allow citizens of Honduras to have more secure mortgages and contracts. Note that Honduras is one of the poorer countries in the West, as the government debt has been swelling since 2008.