Screen capture: The Artificial Lawyer

The Artificial Lawyer reports on the completion of the first-ever U.K. residential property deal using blockchain technology rather than traditional property-transfer methods.

The deal was managed by the law firm Mishcon de Reva, which describes its work as “cross-border, multi-jurisdictional and complex,” and this specific deal as the first “end-to-end digitised residential property transaction.” The Artificial Lawyer explains that in effect, the deal was carried out on “a blockchain-based platform, and completed via working alongside the HM Land Registry’s Digital Street research and development group and Premier Property Lawyers.”

This is clearly a big deal. There has been plenty of talk about such blockchain uses, but this one is for real. – The Artificial Lawyer

The Artificial Lawyer points out that not only does the use of blockchain mean a dramatic difference in the length of time it takes to complete a property deal in a real-estate market that has been “famously slow, manual, paper-based and often open to fraud due to the disconnected processes it involves,” but it is also a dramatic affirmation of the blockchain technology itself, “given that the U.K. is one of the most important property markets in the developed world…. [I]f people here think blockchain is a useful method for property sales, then it certainly has legs and is operating in a very demanding environment.”

Read the details on The Artificial Lawyer site, and then consider: Are you ready for blockchain transactions at a level equal to or exceeding residential property purchases and sales? If not, what steps does your firm need to take to attain this expertise?

Please let me know your thoughts on this topic or any other relating to the law, either in the comments section below, or directly via email.