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Bloomberg
Some of the world’s largest lenders, law firms and real estate companies are turning to the technology behind Bitcoin to streamline the process of buying and selling property.
Barclays Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Clifford Chance LLP were among 40 firms to test new platform developed by Instant Property Network, a company backed by blockchain software firm R3. IPN said it could cut time it tak-es to buy a house from months to weeks and, if applied globally, could result in an annual saving of about $160 billion.
If the platform catches on, it would be a rare example of financial firms using blockchain — the distributed ledger designed to track Bitcoin transactions — for consumer products. Most bank projects have to date have focused on areas such as syndicated corporate loans and trade finance.
“We are near the end of the hype cycle and have not found a great consumer solution for distributed ledger technology until now,’’ Dan Salmons, director for mortgage innovation at RBS, said by phone. ’
Real estate transactions often involve multiple third parties exchanging a mountain of information, which costs time and money. Blockchain could create a secure and trusted record that reduces duplication and eliminates some middlemen, according to a statement from IPN.