Conceptual Surveys

(with Aryeh Younger)

‘Who will guard the guards themselves?’ asked the Roman poet Juvenal. For many today, the answer is to replace guardians altogether with blockchain technology. Blockchains are designed to be resistant to data modification, with each storage block (viz. record) containing an unalterable cryptographic timestamp. As such, the chain of block can act as a transaction ledger without being overseen by any overarching authority. Originally created to underpin the bitcoin cryptocurrency, it was only a matter of time before other industries began to use it.

One such industry is that of real estate. One of the largest U.S. counties, Cook County, Illinois, has already begun storing land records in the blockchain. A Final Report, issued from the Cook County Recorder’s office, details the results of using blockchain for land recording, most of which have been successful. The report also contains a number of sections detailing the reasons the county has for adopting blockchain in the first place. These stem from an analysis of some of the most commonly used concepts relating to transferring land. No philosopher could read this without reaching for the proverbial red pen. Yet it is critical to ensure that we have a strong grasp of the concepts we employ, before exploring the possibility of implementing a major policy change, such as that of adopting blockchain technology to record land documents.