From Bricks to Bits

Unveiling the Future of Real Estate through Tokenisation

Author

Daniel
13 Jul

ā€œFrom BricksšŸ§± to Bitsāš”: Unveiling the Future of Real Estate through Tokenisationā€

The world of real estate is undergoing a profound transformation, thanks to technological advancements that allow us to reimagine property ownership, transactions, and investments. Say hello to tokenization: a ground-breaking concept that converts traditional assets into digital tokens using blockchain technology. With tokenization, we can trade physical assets like commercial and residential real estate across decentralized networks, embracing efficiency and embedding ethical practices directly into our transactional framewroks. In this article, we embark on a journey into the realm of real estate tokenization: exploring its advantages, real-world use cases, regulatory considerations, and the exciting future it holds.

The Value of Real Estate

In 2020, the global real estate asset class reached a staggering $326.5 trillion (commercial real estate, agricultural land, and residential real estate).

Source: Savills Research

Real estate, as the largest repository of wealth globally, surpasses the combined value of global equities and debt securities, nearly quadrupling the global GDP. In comparison, the total value of all gold ever mined amounts to a mere $12.1 trillion, representing only 4% of the immense value held within the real estate market. It is remarkable that such a huge industry is riddled with inefficiencies and problems that hinder accessibility, transparency, and efficiency: high entry barriers, such as large upfront capital requirements and stringent financing processes, limit the participation of potential investors, especially retail investors. The market is often plagued by long and complex transaction processes, involving multiple intermediaries, paperwork, and bureaucratic hurdles, leading to delays, waste, and increased costs. This doesn't take into consideration the illiquid history of traditional real estate markets. Often characterized as exclusive, and slow-moving, legacy real estate investment is often viewed as a market lacking innovation.

Tokenisation, the light at the end of the bricks

Given the inefficiencies and problems inherent in the traditional real estate market, it comes as no surprise that real estate tokenization is receiving traction. Real estate tokenization involves the digitization of various interests related to real estate assets., In tokenization, these interests are divided into smaller units, tokens, and assigned different rights. Some of these rights include the right to receive dividends or vote on the governance of a real estate project. This innovative approach enables the future of real estate, including

fractional ownership and more accessible investment opportunities. Real estate tokenization helps to resolve several issues present in the traditional real estate space:

  1. Barriers to Entry: Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization can enable smaller investors to participate in larger assets, like real estate, by purchasing fractional tokens. Programmatic access to different real estate tokens means tokens can programmatically enforce different compliance frameworks.

  2. Increased Efficiency: A blockchain's ledger will always remember the history of assets and ownership, helping make transaction processing immediate and transaction identification simpler.

  3. Liquidity: By facilitating the sale of fractional ownership through asset token sales on secondary markets, issuers have the ability to transform illiquid real estate into liquid currency.

  4. Distribution of Assets: With asset tokenization, a million-dollar building can be broken into as many parts as needed, allowing the representation of the one million-dollar building with 10,000 tokens worth $100 each.

  5. New Product Offerings: Tokenization has the potential to create new product offerings in the real estate market by enabling fractional ownership, allowing investors to purchase smaller portions of properties. This advantage opens up opportunities for diversified portfolios, increased flexibility, and access to previously inaccessible real estate assets, catering to the varying investment preferences and budgets of a broader investor base.

Projected Industry Growth

The real estate tokenization market is expected to experience exponential growth in the coming years, with an estimated market value of $16 trillion in Real Estate tokenisation by 2030. The sector is set to attract substantial attention, reinforced by the projected annual increase of 128% in the number of users of RWAs, surpassing the 1 million user mark by 2030. The magnitude of the market becomes even more apparent when considering the estimated $400+ trillion global real estate market value by 2030. This figure signifies immense potential for real estate tokenization, supported by the projected yearly growth rate of 612% in the number of unique addresses holding RWAs. It is anticipated that there will be more than 2.5 million unique addresses holding RWAs by 2030, indicating a remarkable expansion in market participation and adoption.

Sources: Savills Research, Grand View Research

Complications on the Tokenization Frontier:

Tokenizing real-world assets presents a set of challenges and risks that must be carefully addressed. Firstly, the sheer scale of tokenizing asset classes worth trillions of dollars introduces logical complications and risks that necessitate meticulous consideration. Additionally, the lack of regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies and real-world assets (RWA) raises uncertainty about future regulatory changes. Many legacy regulatory frameworks are intentionally complex and vague, using humans to disintermediate the ambiguity. A transition to code will take a lot of time. Americans face specific restrictions due to securities and investor laws, as well as Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, which can hinder participation. Moreover, tokenized securities introduce credit and counterparty risks that are significant and must be carefully managed.

The Process of Tokenising Real Estate:

Tokenization can be done in various ways, but all methods result in the legally upheld bridge between the physical asset (real estate property, vehicle, gold, etc.) and its representative token. Sound, legal contract architecture allows the holder of a tokenized asset to have a legal claim on the actual object itself. If an asset is fully tokenized, the token's owner has a clear, legally backed claim to the item. This will also be represented on the blockchain, further solidifying ownership.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle faced when tokenising real estate is the legal compliance elements. There are two main avenues one can explore: firstly, launching a verified security token; or secondly, launching a crypto token that is not registered as a security. There is massive counterparty risk associated with the second option due to the potential, and quite frankly, the likely legal crackdown on the crypto industry approaching. A security token presents with it more regulatory headache, however, provides long-term security and legitimacy to the tokenised assets. If you are interested in a security token launch, feel free to read the following article published by Upside.GG (How and why to tokenize real estate).

Upside.GG Thoughts

The history of securities is one that prizes improved granularity, heightened efficiency, and greater access to investors and investments. Real estate tokenization provides a unique opportunity to evolve securities in line with this trend. At Upside, we are excited to participate in this evolution by offering products that focus on the immediately accessible use cases for tokenized real estate, including tokenized project finance, asset fractionalization, and tokenized fund management. While this financial revolution may take some time to complete, it will be accelerated by building out trusted networks of partners working toward the goal of moving real estate forward.

Simplicity Group Thoughts

Real estate tokenization serves as a powerful catalyst for the blockchain industry, showcasing the practicality and viability of blockchain technology in the real world. By introducing tokenization to the real estate market, we expand the adoption and accessibility of this transformative technology. While some may argue that the entry of serious institutions into the space challenges the decentralized nature of crypto and blockchain, it is crucial for the industry's progress and global utilization. Embracing real estate tokenization enables the industry to reach new heights and paves the way for widespread implementation and acceptance of blockchain technology worldwide.

At the pinnacle of its growth, the total crypto market surged to an impressive $3,000,000, representing merely 1% of the colossal real estate market capitalization. While it may be improbable for every real estate property to undergo tokenization, the emergence of tokenized real estate holds vast potential, poised to unlock remarkable opportunities for the industry. Consider this: if only 1% of the real estate market embraces tokenization, the resulting growth could match the entire market capitalization witnessed during the peak of the crypto industry. Our earnest aspiration lies in the belief that tokenized real estate, alongside other real-world assets, will catalyze the maturation of the blockchain industry, thus enabling widespread global benefits through this transformative technology