Ohio County Auditors To Explore Blockchain Benefits In Real Estate

The County Auditors’ Association of Ohio (CAAO) has launched the formation of a working group to study the benefits of blockchain technology for property transactions. The same was confirmed by Ohio-based blockchain startup SafeChain on Wednesday, 21st Feb. The working group will examine the use of blockchain technology in an attempt to bring efficiency gains in real-estate deeds between parties as well as the transfer of land titles across multiple counties.

SafeChain is an Ohio-based startup that works for putting the land titles and real-estate transactions on a blockchain. The startup is the technical partner for the project. Tony Franco, one of the members of SafeChain will reportedly review and demonstrate the ongoing projects in the state to the county auditors’ group. The blockchain can speed up property transactions as well as offers more security by verifying the involved parties’ identities and bank accounts.

CAAO comprises of thirteen Ohio county auditors from across Ohio are public officials who oversight of the financial books and records of all county officers along with administering their respective counties’ budgets. The county is chaired by Matt Nolan who is auditor of Warren County, Matthew Livengood, auditor-elect of Washington County and George Kaitsa, auditor of Delaware County are also part of the group.

Matt Nolan said in a press release:
“We have a committed group […] to enhance technology and improve government operations to the benefit of the taxpayer. CAAO has set an extremely high standard for getting involved in technology projects due to the need to recognize its members’ diverse needs; this makes the formation of this working group particularly noteworthy.”
“The goal of this working group is to consider how County Auditors can be forward thinking to improve the taxpayer experience in conveying and transferring real property.”

The state of Ohio claimed to be at the fore of blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption and it was also reported that it became the first state to accept Bitcoin (BTC) for tax payments in November 2018. Total seven Ohio funds committed to investing over $300 million into blockchain startups till the year 2021.
Apart from SafeChain, a wide range of startups are developing blockchain-powered real estate solutions which include the platform RealBlocks closed at $3.1 million seed funding backed by digital assets manager Morgan Creek Digital.