In Getting Started, we explained the problems with the current property market and how in Portionship, we are going to solve them. Now it is time to understand the structure.
Ownership
Ownership is the act, state, or right of possessing something.
Ownership in the modern world is done by trusting an entity to store the record of ownership and transfers. And as a result, there is no real ownership.
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💡 Data Ownership
You probably have a Gmail account with your private data. Who guarantees you’re the owner of your Gmail account and someone else cannot have it suddenly? Gmail team and their database and systems they put in place to prevent it.
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💡 Stock Ownership
You probably buy shares in ASX (Australian Securities Exchange) with a click. Did you know ASX is a company? And as long as they have in their database who owns what, then you are the owner, and with human error, you can lose everything.
Do you know how difficult and expensive it is to get shares directly in a company before they are on ASX? You need to have legal documents signed, and lawyers involved and pay tax for the actual ownership to happen.
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💡 Property Ownership
How can someone prove they own property? Did you know NSW Land Registry Services is a business? As long as they have your information on their database, you own the land. And, like any company, you cannot really check their database directly.
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💡 Money Ownership
Do you know your salary is going to another company called a bank, and you have no entitlement to it if they say so?
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We have implemented the same model but better.
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We register a business (similar to banks and stock exchanges) to follow the legal laws in the countries we operate in. This lets us own an asset like properties in those countries and work in the legal system.
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Using our technology (similar to a bank ledger or Gmail database), we have a ledger of how many properties we have and how they are broken into smaller affordable portions and who owns which portion. We have done it better than the traditional market. Instead of using old technologies, we have embraced blockchain to store information publicly by anyone who wants to (you can store a version of it too). This helps us to make it tamper-proof and avoid a single point of failure issue.
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Once we register a property, we create a digital asset (called NFT) using a smart contract (a set of rules which cannot change). This process is called minting. It lets us break down the digital asset (which represents the property) into smaller portions and lets investors worldwide buy them remotely.
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Also, instead of having 100s of employees in legal and accounting departments, we have written multiple smart contracts to do their jobs automatically:
- Divide the monthly rental income automatically between all the owners and send it at low cost using USDT.
- Swapping or buying, selling portions (of the digital asset) instantly.
- Voting between the owners to make decisions like selling the physical asset, renovations, or change of tenant.
- Lending and borrowing.
- And many more
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💡 This is like buying shares in different companies. i.e. Jack owns one portion of a property in Rome with a $5 rental income. Jason also owns one portion of a property in Paris with a $5 rental income. And let's assume both properties have the same value. If rent increases in Paris by 20%, Jason will get $6 a month while Jack still makes $5.
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Next to read: Income Sources