Real estate startup AssetBlock has launched a new platform for trading commercial properties that have been linked to tokens on the Algorand blockchain.
Announced Tuesday, the platform gives investors access to commercial real estate properties, such as upscale hotels, AssetBlock CEO Mark Liddell told CoinDesk. The Algorand blockchain uses the ALGO cryptocurrency, but investors cannot trade their ALGO for real estate stakes just yet.
Liddell told CoinDesk that tokenized properties – including those held by Lodging Capital Partners, AssetBlock’s launch partner – will not go live until mid-October.
AssetBlock’s platform has been in development for over a year, according to Liddell, who said his team approached Algorand’s project managers early in the development process. They chose the Algorand network for its security and efficient network speeds.
Algorand’s fast transaction times are what CEO Steve Kokinos pointed to as the blockchain’s greatest advantage for real estate.
“We have immediate finality. If you start to look at high value assets like real estate, finality – having absolute certainty over who owns that asset – is very important,” he said.
Algorand has benefitted from an infusion of recent capital. Its Algo token sale raised $60 million in June; in August, investment company Arrington XRP raised $200 million for investment in Algorand projects.
Kokinos said tokenization improves access to global investments. “I think, at its core, the idea is to use tokenization and decentralized currencies to democratize finance,” he said.
“For a large number of people in the world, there are many different investment opportunities, financial services and other products that aren’t really accessible.”