The Hub, a student residence in South Carolina, has been developed as a luxury residence of sorts for students. But it has been opened to the general public through "tokens" that have gone for sale, according to Fortune's coverage.
These tokens represent part-ownership of a piece of the prime Hub, near the University of South Carolina. What makes this important is the fact that it is also one of the first times blockchain has taken over the traditional process of purchasing and owning a prime piece of property. These can't be invalidated through normal means too, as they are rendered tamper proof by their existence on the Web.
Convexity Properties, the firm behind the sale, hopes to receive $20 million through the sale, where accredited investors stand to receive property for as little as $21,000. The tokens can be redeemed or, as most blockchain traders do, put them up for sale and trade in cryptocurrency exchanges. News of this transaction only validates this How to Token study on cryptocurrency markets and their effect on real estate. Bitcoin tokens founded on blockchain technology are only another part of blockchain's involvement in real estate. Real estate has mostly partnered with blockchain to speed up processes and provide an easier way of doing things, such as signing an important document even if both parties are a country apart.
The land is a resource prone to dwindling, and there are a lot of people looking for a prime piece of plot. Blockchain represents a resource that is not finite, theoretically. Real estate can be traded using blockchain to represent it.
Another way of using blockchain is to open up the rental market to its use. When renting, two parties must be prepared to enter into a sort of contract, and that is a good candidate for blockchain's capabilities. Documents and proofs can be kept secure by blockchain, until such time when one or both parties need to take a look at it for whatever purpose.
In the US, the South Carolina-based Hub isn't the first property disrupted by the partnership of blockchain and real estate. There's the St. Regis in Aspen, Colorado, which partnered with crowdfunding site Indiegogo in an effort to sell similar real estate tokens that represents a stake in the prime property. The difference between the properties is that the St. Regis is considered commercial property, while The Hub is institutional-grade.
