Georgia develops blockchain land registry platform

Georgia is teaming up with international experts to become one of the first countries in the world to develop and use a system for registering land titles using blockchain.

The Georgian Government inked a deal with Bitcoin mining company BitFuty to develop the system, which will soon be piloted in Georgia. The aim of the initiative was to boost title transparency and reduce the prevalence of fraud, said a Georgian expert involved in the project.

BitFury will develop the platform for the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR), an office of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. Renowned Peruvian Economist Hernando DeSoto announced on Friday he would assist in the development of the platform.

The pilot project will use a transparent and secure ledger for managing land titles.

Thanks to this possibility, the ability to purchase and sell property will become more flexible and stimulate the country’s economy. Furthermore, the project will boost land ownership transparency and reduce fraud.

NAPR and BitFury signed a Memorandum to launch the pilot project after meeting in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia.

If the project is carried out successfully, property registration fees in Georgia would reduce by 95 percent, said the Agency.

By building a Blockchain-based property registry and taking full advantage of the security provided by the Blockchain technology, Georgia can show the world that we are a modern, transparent and corruption-free country that can lead the world in changing the way land titling is done and pave the way to additional prosperity for all,” said Papuna Ugrekhelidze, NAPR chairman.

A group of technical specialists from BitFury are currently in Georgia to discuss the project details with Georgian authorities.

The experts will help develop the platform for the National Agency of Public Registry to utilise a permissioned blockchain operated by the Agency. This private blockchain will be tied to the Bitcoin blockchain, suggesting a form of merge-mining will secure the land registry.