HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
SPLITTING THE ATTOM
How Blockchain Could Transform Property Record Transparency
BY FELIX TOM ATTOM DATA WAREHOUSE DEVELOPER
Introduction to Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology
It’s hard to go a day without news about Bitcoin these days and it’s easy to understand why. The cryptocurrency Bitcoin’s rapid rise late last year drew a lot of attention from the financial sector, with analysts espousing investment opportunities on one end and speculation of a bubble bursting on the other end. While the financial side of Bitcoin has garnered most of the focus, something that is most often missed is the technology behind it, blockchain technology, and how its applications will outlast Bitcoin.
the thousands of copies of said ledger are distributed across the world and are maintained by their users, whom update and ensure all copies match each other. A distributed ledger solves the problems that arise when data is stored in only one location — as existing money transfer systems do. Physical records like an accountant’s ledger can be vulnerable to natural disasters; digital records can be vulnerable
Both Bitcoin and the blockchain were established together in 2009 as a method of transferring money from one person to another without having to rely on a third party like banks, credit cards, or money transfer services. Where Bitcoin is the currency and asset side of the equation, blockchain technology is the ledger for transactional record keeping. The main difference between the blockchain ledger and the traditional banks is that
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FEBRUARY 2018 | ATTOM DATA SOLUTIONS
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