BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY... is a decentralized database that stores a registry of assets and transactions across a peer-to-peer network. It's basically a public registry of who owns what and who transacts what. The transactions are secured through cryptography, and over time, that transaction history gets locked in blocks of data that are then cryptographically linked together and secured. This creates an immutable, unforgeable record of all of the transactions across this network. This record is replicated on every computer that uses the network.

Sweden's Blockchain Land Registry to Begin Testing in March

Pete Rizzo (@pete_rizzo_) | Published on January 10, 2017 at 14:30 GMT

A public-private effort in Sweden to record land titles on a blockchain is set to begin public testing this March. Spearheaded by the Swedish National Land Survey and blockchain startup ChromaWay, the project was revealed in June to have support from consulting firm Kairos Future and telephone service provider Telia. Now, the project is moving ahead with the addition of two banks that specialize in mortgages, Landshypotek and SBAB, CoinDesk has learned.

ChromaWay CEO Henrik Hjelte said that the sandbox release would seek to test the platform from a business, legal and security perspective, while allowing the public to test the interface and back-end. "The system will not be connected to live data in March yet, but it will demonstrate what it would look like if it were to be populated with real data and integrated into the different actors' services," Hjelte told CoinDesk.

Blockchain for Mortgages: Compelling,But Premature? George Yacik | Published on January 10, 2017 at 14:04 GMT

If there's an industry that cries out for the efficiencies and data integrity that blockchain tech promises, it's undoubtedly the US residential mortgage business.

First off, there's the size of the business. At last count, according to the Federal Reserve, there were about $10tn-worth of residential mortgages outstanding, with about $2tn in new loans being originated in a good year.

Then, there's the amount of data – most of it sensitive – that goes into and supports every loan. "A mortgage application requires hundreds of documents and very sensitive data," Leo Loomie, senior vice president of client services at Digital Risk LLC, a mortgage processing provider, told CoinDesk. "W-2s, income statements, asset statements, bank statements, Social Security numbers – and all of that has to change hands numerous times over a variety of channels: fax, email, mobile phone."

Mortgages are complex financial instruments, agrees Jason Nadeau, executive vice president at blockchain startup Factom, writing in a recent issue of MReport, a mortgage industry publication.

"To process a mortgage from start to finish, you're looking at many documents, all with multiple versions, created by multiple parties and multiple entities editing and revising. Combined, that could be thousands of document versions, data points, all variable to revision," he said. And that’s just at the front end, so there's increasing interest in how blockchain might be able to solve real-world workflow problems in real estate.

"The mortgage use cases for blockchain are super interesting," Loomie said, indicating he is optimistic about the technology and its potential.

BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY: (2016) & MERS (1999): Register & Record Land Titles, RP Transactions, Secondary Mortgage Market Transparencies; [Better Record Keeping, Cost Savings and Information Sharing ~ CoinDesk 2017]

Swedish Land Registry
Honduras (Central America)
Georgia (formerly part of the USSR)
Bank of China
HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation - London)
ABN Amaro (Dutch)
Landshypotek and SBAB (Sweden)
- (2) banks that specialize in mortgages
Deloitte's Netherlands branch is working with the city of Rotterdam