NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, April 22, 2016

In a signing ceremony at the Georgian Ministry of Justice. Bitcoin mining company BitFury, the Republic of Georgia’s National Agency of Public Registry and renowned Peruvian economist Hernando DeSoto announced Friday a partnership to design and pilot a blockchain land titling project.

The experiment revives blockchain enthusiasts’ dreams of using the technology — a transparent and secure ledger — for managing land titles. While in the United States and Western Europe, it’s common to have legal title to property such as homes, cars, etc., in many parts of the world, people do not have legal title to their assets. De Soto, president of Lima-based think tank, the Institute for Liberty and Democracy, estimates that the value of this “dead capital” totals $20 trillion.

It also signals a shift in direction for the San Francisco-based company that has, until now, been known primarily for mining.

“We are launching the property rights registration project for Georgian citizens so that they can register property on the blockchain,” said Valery Vavilov, chief executive of BitFury.