Builder and Exchange to Launch Blockchain-based Housing Pilot

Japanese home-building giant Sekisui House has announced that it will begin a pilot blockchain program in conjunction with BitFlyer, one of the country’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, to allow customers to finalize real estate rental contracts on their smartphones.

Per media outlet Newswitch, Sekisui House says it is currently putting together a consortium of real estate agents, insurers, banks and notaries. It hopes to finalize its consortium by the end of this financial year, and will pilot a platform at its Shibuya, Tokyo-based Sekowa Real Estate business rental subsidiary. The pilot will allow customers to rent properties in the Kanagawa Prefecture, a province adjacent to Tokyo.

Sekisui House first penned its deal with BitFlyer last year, and has claimed that its platform will be fully operational and available nationwide by 2020. The companies say they hope to allow customers to ditch paper documents entirely and conduct complex rental deals via a blockchain technology-powered smartphone app.

BitFlyer says the solution will be based on its Miyabi platform. The exchange claims that Miyabi is capable of handling some 2,000 transactions per second. In comparison, Bitcoin can process less than 10 transactions per second, and Ethereum less than 20.