Dominium: A Brief History Of Property Meets Tech

The global property market is worth $217 trillion, more than all the gold and bitcoin in the world combined. Whilst blockchain technology is being leveraged in new and exciting ways, no-one has yet attempted to create a unified, decentralised platform for all property related activities. Until now.

We are a group of property professionals, legal & tax advisors and blockchain enthusiasts who have come together to create a product to help bring the property market into the technological era. Having worked in the property development, finance and management industry for nearly two centuries (yes centuries! Our story begins in 1833…) we are acutely aware of the limitations of our trade and well equipped to resolve them. Which is exactly what we are trying to do.

Property ownership is as old as human culture

People have been trying to record property ownership since Babylonian times, around 6500 BC. Proving ownership of our land seems to be an intrinsic part of human nature.

Nowadays, we have country-specific land registries and technological resources that provide us with average house prices, postcodes and investment fund opportunities, but there is no single platform for us to be able to sell a flat, invest in a foreign property fund, message our plumber or sign a rental contract. Even in these modern times, the property market is not in line with the applications and technologies available to us in other facets of life.

In order to invest in a property fund, we need to complete endless forms, pay intermediaries for the pleasure of taking our money, of which we have to have a great deal to invest (most property investments require a capital investment of tens of thousands), and then get tied into an investment period of (generally speaking) many years.

In order to sell a property, we employ agents, list the details on several websites and advertise in newspapers.

To manage a portfolio, we deal with workmen on the telephone, email and messaging services, we rely on notes, communications and memory to track renovation progress and rely on paper contracts and receipts to demonstrate costs and deadlines.

Enter blockchain

One of the most exciting technological developments in recent years has been the emergence of the decentralised blockchain, whereby transactions can be recorded globally, irreversibly and instantly.

We at Dominium recognised the impact that blockchain technology could have on our industry. Having used multiple software systems, media and communication methods for decades, we longed for someone to give us a unified platform where we could sell, rent, communicate, manage and indisputably record activities. When nobody did, we decided to build it ourselves.

Enter Dominium

Dominium is, in a nutshell, everything property in one place, recorded on the blockchain. You can sell your house, you can rent a flat, you can invest in a property fund and sell your investment whenever you want. You can renovate a property and communicate with your electrician, and you can launch a regulated property fund without employing a lawyer. Everything you do is recorded on the blockchain, so it is transparent and undeniable.

How do we do it

The Dominium platform is built on an Ardor childchain which evolved from the time-tested Nxt blockchain. The Dominium childchain decentralises the trade of assets and places rental agreements, purchase agreements, property management tasks and more on the blockchain. Dominium also obtains the required regulatory licenses to allow standardised legal templates for property funding to be created. This allows companies to create regulatory compliant assets, which can be purchased by Dominium account holders. Since the assets are created on the blockchain, they are 100% transparent and liquid.

Anything else?

As a matter of fact, yes.

Lots of tech startups do not make it past the early development stage. Many ICOs start off well and end up with worthless coins and little to show for their efforts. We believe in our product, which is why we have self-funded its development and we are putting several million euros of property assets into Dominium. When we launch our ICO, we will spend a large proportion of the money raised to purchase property. This property will generate an income that will be used to support the ongoing maintenance and long-term survival of the platform. Everything we spend is overseen by a company that has been supervising property funds for decades and all our financial activities are audited.

Want to learn more?

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