ABN AMRO and IBM launch Torch blockchain real estate ledger to make real estate transactions and information exchange more efficient

ABN AMRO, the largest bank in the Netherlands, has launched a blockchain application, Torch, to help facilitate real estate transactions and information exchange.

Developed by ABN AMRO in partnership with IBM, the Torch is a blockchain application that is an all-encompassing ledger accessible to all parties involved in a real estate transaction: buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants, ABN AMRO as a bank, notary, valuer; the Netherlands Land Registry Office and the Chamber of Commerce (corporate registry); and other regulatory bodies.

All of the above institutions will participate in this decentralized ledger according to their capabilities, which will make record keeping and information access more efficient.

Blockchain real estate ledger

Torch will be launched as an application, and ABN AMRO commercial real estate clients can enter real estate lease contracts into the application. These contracts are then verified by the client's relationship manager. Appraisers can also use Torch to value real estate using real estate information sent by bank employees, and then use the ledger to share valuation reports with clients or banks.

The Torch will also facilitate the sharing of additional information provided by land registries and chambers of commerce. The Dutch central bank, the Netherlands’ financial regulator, will also have access to the Torch and all of the above information.

ABN AMRO chose blockchain as its core infrastructure because the technology has the potential to revolutionize the way commercial real estate information is recorded and accessed.

The bank said:

“The potential of blockchain is that the technology is designed to be trustworthy. Beyond that, it can be programmed with smart contracts to control transactions.”

The most intense stage

ABN AMRO has shown interest in blockchain development and applications in the past. In mid-2016, the bank teamed up with another financial institution, Rabobank, to explore the technology in a variety of areas, including cross-border payments, risk modeling and mortgages.

Recently, the bank announced a new partnership with Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands to rapidly develop blockchain applications by mid-2017. As part of the partnership, ABN AMRO personnel will participate in the university’s blockchain applications course to learn more about this innovative technology.

ABN AMRO is also one of the 30 founding members of the Hyperledger project, which now has more than 100 members, and is an open source blockchain project led by the Linux Foundation. The bank also participated in the $50 million financing round of Digital Asset Holdings, a well-known New York commercial blockchain startup.

There are other blockchain real estate applications, most notably a recent pilot project being tested by the Kenyan government that uses a blockchain developed by IBM to record details of land transactions.