Bitcoin vs. Abstracts of Title, or, “High Tech Wine in Old Bottles”

Mystified by Bitcoin and the technology it’s based on — something called “blockchain computing?”

It’s just a digital version of the millennia-old, “analog” system used to track real property ownership rights.

Called an abstract of title, it’s a cumulative list of all the previous owners of a particular parcel of land, and the dwelling(s) on it.

By contrast, Torrens, the more modern evidence of real property ownership, dispenses with the cumulative history, and simply shows the current owner.

Simple, huh?

P.S.: I tell owners that abstracts of title are what people used to keep in their safety deposit box:  thick, multi-layered, dusty — but, also un-hackable!

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.
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