SAN FRANCISCO & OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Origin Protocol, a web3 pioneer bringing NFTs and DeFi to the masses, has partnered with the leading online real estate investment platform Roofstock to bring blockchain innovation to the real estate industry. Origin’s technology will power Roofstock’s web3 subsidiary, Roofstock onChain, with an NFT marketplace for tokenized real estate. Roofstock onChain’s ERC-721 smart contracts will be integrated into the marketplace to facilitate the purchase and sale of tokenized properties in the form of NFTs.
Why it matters: At present, the $11T global real estate market remains a much talked about industry for streamlining ownership, reducing friction, and democratizing access.
By incorporating Roofstock onChain's modified smart contracts into a branded marketplace developed and hosted by Origin’s veteran team, users will be able to list and purchase homes in USD Coin (USDC). USDC, one of the largest stablecoins, is pegged to the US dollar and fully backed by USD and treasury reserves, making it one of the preferred mediums of exchange in crypto. This collaboration delivers the benefits and efficiencies of blockchain technology directly to end users. Prospective sellers will only need to pay 3% in fees when selling a property, well below norms in the traditional real estate market.
Bringing tokenized homes to the masses
“At Origin we recognise that innovation in the non-fungible token space remains in its infancy – a prospect that exhilarates us,” says Matthew Liu, co-founder of Origin Protocol. “The power of digitally verifiable ownership through NFTs has many powerful potential real-world applications. In reality, we’ve barely scratched the surface of this nascent technology’s potential. We anticipate trillions of dollars of real-world assets will be tokenized as NFTs in the next decade.”
Since its founding in 2015, Roofstock has offered technology-enabled solutions to dramatically improve the real estate investing experience for single family rental homes. Roofstock raised a Series E funding round led by Softbank at a $1.94B valuation in March. Roofstock OnChain’s partnership with Origin aims to make property transfers seamless, transparent, and affordable through Roofstock onChain’s modified ERC-721 smart contracts.
“Investing in real estate is often considered a cumbersome process with high fees and lengthy transaction processes. By tokenizing properties on the blockchain, Roofstock onChain aims to radically simplify the way single family rental homes are bought and sold,” said Geoff Thompson, Chief Blockchain Officer of Roofstock. “Roofstock onChain’s partnership with Origin further simplifies the process of purchasing a property. Now, anyone is able to purchase and sell a property through one of the first NFT marketplaces dedicated to tokenized real estate,” added Sanjay Raghavan, Head of web3 Initiatives at Roofstock.
How Origin and Roofstock onChain Connect Real World Properties to the Blockchain
How it works: Roofstock onChain titles each home in a single member limited liability company (LLC). By using a blockchain to represent the ownership interest of each LLC in the form of an NFT, ownership of the corresponding property can be transferred on-chain in a legally enforceable manner.
Facilitated by Roofstock’s deep expertise in all aspects of real estate transactions, all tokenized properties undergo comprehensive inspections and document verification, affording buyers much needed peace of mind to embrace this new chapter in digitized asset exchange. Full property and LLC details will be accessible via the marketplace, giving users all the necessary information to conduct their own due diligence. Owners will have full managerial control over the properties and may choose to self-manage them or hire a third party property manager.
Potential buyers and sellers will go through traditional identity verification processes through Roofstock onChain, which ensures compliance with law and provides an important layer of security when dealing with high value, real world assets.
Liu continues, “Origin is committed to affirming transparency and autonomy in crypto. Having been entrenched in the space for over five years, we understand the importance of cultivating innovative, safe and accessible platforms through robust decentralized technology. We’re proud to embark on this new journey with Roofstock onChain, and, in doing so, unite and empower our vibrant web3 communities.”
“We are excited for crypto-native individuals and crypto-institutions to have direct access into the real estate sector without off-ramping into fiat. Origin and Roofstock onChain have designed a solution that empowers individuals, crypto treasuries, DAOs, and protocols to buy and build real estate portfolios with confidence,” said Geoff Thompson.
Looking forward
Since its inception, the promise of crypto has been true decentralization and digital property rights that offer real-world benefits for end users. With the launch of this partnership with Roofstock onChain, Origin is taking a significant step toward realizing that vision. Tokenized property exchange, entirely on-chain, offers a tantalizing peek into the endless horizons of real-world asset classes ripe for disruption.
About Roofstock onChain
Roofstock onChain is the web3 subsidiary of Roofstock, the leading digital real estate investing platform for the $4 trillion single-family rental home sector. Using blockchain technology, Roofstock onChain provides investors the ability to purchase tokenized single family rental properties in minutes, cutting the time and cost incurred by legacy systems.
Roofstock provides extensive resources for investors to buy, manage, and sell investment homes online, including data analytics, connections to property management companies and contractors, and other management tools. Roofstock's transparent, innovative marketplace empowers investors to own cash-flowing rental properties, diversify their investment portfolios, and build long-term wealth through real estate. Founded in 2015, Roofstock has facilitated more than $5 billion in investment transactions to date.
To learn more or to get started with Roofstock onChain, please visit onchain.roofstock.com.
About Origin Protocol
Founded in 2017, Origin Protocol is a web3 pioneer developing innovative products in the crypto industry’s fastest growing verticals of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi). Origin’s NFT platform, Origin Story, the platform’s NFT product, has powered NFT sales like 3LAU's $11.7M record-breaking music sale, the Charlie Bit My Finger viral video sale that generated global headlines, Paris Hilton’s iconic “Past Lives, New Beginnings” series drop, and many more. Origin has worked with top NFT creators like Trevor Jones and Alotta Money as well as brands like Rolling Stones and Inspiration4/SpaceX, in addition to developing branded marketplaces for beloved NFT collections, including Pudgy Penguins and Karafuru.
The company is also the creator of the Origin Dollar (OUSD), the first stablecoin to automatically accrue compelling DeFi yields while being passively held in user wallets. The native token of the entire Origin commerce platform is the Origin Token (OGN).
Origin was founded by serial entrepreneurs, Matthew Liu and Joshua Fraser, and also counts the first employee at YouTube, and product and engineering leader from Google, Dropbox, and Coinbase amongst its team members.
