Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have taken the world by storm in recent years, emerging as a new paradigm for the hyper-digitalised generation.
Digitally represented works of art, songs, books and even tweets have been turned into NFTs, some worth millions of dollars, revolutionising the creative industry. These tokens are also a fundamental part of the metaverse, as they provide indisputable proof of ownership of properties and other transactions in the virtual world where blockchain technology reigns.
The use of NFTs, however, is moving into the physical realm. It is slowly expanding to represent ownership of tangible items in the real world, validating matters as complex as real estate transactions.
Anyone who has bought property will know the tedious process of signing numerous documents and meeting various agencies to complete the transaction. An NFT-attached smart contract solves this problem by having a single digital contract that verifies the ownership of the property, or a fraction of the property owned.
An NFT is akin to a certificate of authenticity or a digital deed inscribed on a blockchain. The token, or in this case the tokenised contract, remains in the blockchain once it is uploaded, with no means to amend the agreement, hence making it securely yours.
It is this smart contract feature that makes the tokens relevant to physical real estate, says Ray Chung, co-founder of Meta Universe Solutions. The home-grown enterprise solutions provider assists companies in expanding their existing business lines into the virtual realm.
“Instead of using traditional agreements on paper, the agreement is coded and recorded in the blockchain. Nobody can change it, nobody can manipulate it, and everyone in the world [who has access to the blockchain] can check it,” says Ray, who is also an advisory member of a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) for virtual real estate projects.
Real estate NFTs are becoming popular in the US as real estate blockchain…
