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> What about a registry of land ownership? Towards what purpose? So that a court can look at it and decide who owns the land? In which case the court can run a

> What about a registry of land ownership? Towards what purpose? So that a court can look at it and decide who owns the land? In which case the court can run a SQL database for significantly cheaper than a secure proof-of-work system. The notary idea is a good one, except that it's not actually a problem that needs solving in most countries with a semi-functioning democracy. If you want to timestamp something relatively important, you post it in your city/county/country's newspaper of record. In the UK, for example, that'd be The London/Edinburgh/Belfast Gazette. Various entities maintain copies of these, in case you're worried that the Government decided to edit their copy of the record.

rocqua 9y ago
Consider title insurance [1]. The current system of land registry in the U.S. is so disjointed that you need insurance against the registry making mistakes. This might be solved by making a centralized database, but then we are depending on the technical capabilities and security of the court system. Just because we trust the court to make correct decisions does not mean we trust the court to keep that data correctly and publicly available. Besides, a system like this could allow for land transfers that are recorded only in the blockchain, without need of an intermediary. A harder objection would be complicated deeds. For example, a deed that grants a piece of land but requires that, when it is sold, the proceeds go to some charity. For cases like that, you'd require a signature by a trusted third party (an oracle). We are now trusting that oracle only to make the right decision when the signature is requested. Moreover, it is now public data that there is a complex deed behind this transaction. Thus it is no longer possible that upon sale, the deed has been forgotten and then later it turns up wreaks retroactive havoc. Another issue would be 'property loss'. People lose their crypto keys all the time, what happens when people lose the 'key' to their land? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_insurance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_insurance

rocqua 9y ago

Consider title insurance [1]. The current system of land registry in the U.S. is so disjointed that you need insurance against the registry making mistakes. This might be solved by making a centralized database, but then we are depending on the technical capabilities and security of the court system. Just because we trust the court to make correct decisions does not mean we trust the court to keep that data correctly and publicly available. Besides, a system like this could allow for land transfers that are recorded only in the blockchain, without need of an intermediary. A harder objection would be complicated deeds. For example, a deed that grants a piece of land but requires that, when it is sold, the proceeds go to some charity. For cases like that, you'd require a signature by a trusted third party (an oracle). We are now trusting that oracle only to make the right decision when the signature is requested. Moreover, it is now public data that there is a complex deed behind this transaction. Thus it is no longer possible that upon sale, the deed has been forgotten and then later it turns up wreaks retroactive havoc. Another issue would be 'property loss'. People lose their crypto keys all the time, what happens when people lose the 'key' to their land? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_insurance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_insurance