Propy, the global property store and decentralised title registry, today announced the world’s first real estate transaction on the distributed public blockchain network Ethereum.
TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington remotely purchased a $60,000 apartment in Kiev, settled via smart contracts and in Ethereum cryptocurrency and PRO (Propy) tokens, marking the first-ever cryptocurrency transaction in Ukraine and the first real asset transfer via blockchain, and opening the door for many more remote real estate transactions on the blockchain.
Transparency and Integrity rule
Propy Chief Executive Natalia Karayaneva said that she was thrilled to see her company leading the charge in putting real estate on the blockchain, bringing transparency, efficiency, and security to an industry traditionally fraught with red tape and bureaucracy,
“Ukrainian real estate is very affordable, and the Ukrainian market will soon be growing dynamically. This purchase is an important signal to foreign investors, especially Chinese, who face strict capital controls of $50,000 per person, that they can safely and easily invest in this market and, soon in other countries” she said.
String of successes
Arrington’s real estate purchase from Ukrainian developer Mark Ginsburg is the latest in a string of successes for Propy,
In September, the company raised US$ 15 million in a pre-sale and crowd sale of PRO tokens making it one of the 10 highest-earning ICOs this summer,
It also entered into an official partnership with the government of Ukraine, which has agreed to pilot the blockchain title registry.
First major step
The partnership, Propy’s first with a foreign government coincides with new legislation, allowing foreign investors to purchase land in Ukraine as of January 1, 2018.
By utilising Ethereum blockchain, a technology that is quickly gaining on the bitcoin blockchain as the blockchain of choice for developers, Propy has taken an important first step in automating real estate purchases on the burgeoning global real estate market.
“This is only the beginning. With this transaction, we have broken the first ground in putting the $217 trillion real estate market on the blockchain. We are starting with Ukraine, but over the coming year we plan to facilitate real estate transactions with the use of PRO tokens in California, Vermont, and Dubai,” Ms Karayaneva said.
About Propy
Propy is the world’s first international real estate marketplace, aimed at solving the problems of purchasing property across borders,
It facilitates connections between international entities to enable the seamless purchase of international real estate online,
The Silicon Valley-based company is advised by Michael Arrington (Founder of TechCrunch), Vinny Lingham (CEO of Civic), David Cowan (Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners), Alain Pinel (Intero Real Estate), Daniel Kottke (formerly of Apple), Mike Costache (Managing Partner at KrowdMentor & d10e), and Jeremy Gardner (EIR at Blockchain Capital).
The US$ 217 trillion international real estate market is inaccessible to most investors. Complex cross-border legalities, escrow issues, bureaucracy, multiple intermediaries, and a lack of transparency make it virtually impossible to buy property abroad,
Enter Propy (www.propy.com) a global property store and decentralised title registry that today announced the world’s first real estate asset transfer on the Ethereum blockchain.
Breakthrough with new currency
On September 24, 2017, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington purchased an apartment in Kiev, Ukraine using the Ethereum cryptocurrency and PRO (Propy) tokens, bringing transparency, efficiency, and security to an industry fraught with red tape,
This groundbreaking purchase marks three Firsts:
It is the first real asset transfer via the Blockchain, Propy utilised the Ethereum blockchain, a technology that is quickly gaining on bitcoin as the blockchain of choice for developers. In doing so, it has broken first ground in putting the real estate market on the blockchain.
It is the first Government-approved cryptocurrency purchase, The Ukraine government agreed to pilot Propy’s decentralised title registry, marking the first time a government has ever sanctioned the use of cryptocurrency for a purchase.
It is the first signal that the blockchain is the future of the global real estate.
This purchase is an important signal to foreign investors, especially Chinese, who face strict capital controls of $50,000 per person that they can safely and easily invest in Ukraine and, soon, other countries.
The property in which Founder TechCrunch Founder Michael Arrington invested on September 24, 2017.
(Picture Supplied).
