Blockchain-based Ubitquity pilots with Brazil's land records bureau

Blockchain to real estate startup Ubitquity LLC has partnered with Cartório de Registro de Imóveis [Real Estate Registry Office] in Brazil to create the first-ever pilot programme for the region's official land records.

Ubitquity's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) blockchain platform will bring greater accuracy and immutability to property ownership data handled by the land records office, said a statement.

Ubitquity LLC founder & president, Nathan Wosnack, said: "We are incredibly excited to announce our partnership with the land records bureau, a Cartório de Registro de Imóveis [Real Estate Registry Office] in Brazil. This partnership will help to demonstrate to government municipalities the power and benefits of using blockchain-powered record keeping.

"This is a first for not only Brazil but for South America in an effort to help lower costs while greatly improving accuracy, security, and transparency."

Ubitquity's team will be closely working with Rafael Mezzari, from one of the Real Estate Registry Offices, to ensure cohesion and compliance with best practices and recording standards in his municipality.

Keeping property records – one of the most important documents a person holds – on the blockchain is important in developing markets such as Brazil, said Wosnack. "The blockchain allows ownership and title disputes to be handled in a fair and transparent fashion, and serves as a backup in case the original is destroyed or misplaced," he said.

The pilot has started with adding public property record data for two regions: Pelotas and Morro Redondo.

Initially, a parallel platform will be built to replicate the existing legal structure of property ownership recording and transferring. In time, they anticipate creating a vastly superior system that incorporates blockchain technology for ultimate accuracy and security.

The goal is to eventually replace the legacy system which has vulnerabilities due to its centralised, siloed nature. Beyond a pilot, Ubitquity's platform has the potential to act as a catalyst to improve this essential government service for all people of Brazil.

Wosnack added via email: "On March 30th, perhaps for the first time ever in South America a property authorised by the government in Brazil has been recorded on the blockchain. Not any blockchain, the Bitcoin blockchain, via the Ubitquity platform.

"The address information for the test was supplied by the Cartorio de Registro de Imoveis [Real Estate Registry Office] via a gentleman named Rafael (who will be at the Emerging Links event in Brazil where this will be announced by Rik Willard of the Agentic Group) who facilitated this with us for the beginning of our pilot.

"So far we're registering addresses in Pelotas and Morro Redondo as part of the early pilot testing before expanding our development efforts further. Real world use cases. Upon successfully testing our pilot, our goal is to have a platform in place that can handle the cities, town, and (in due time) entire country. We're adding addresses throughout the weekend for the pilot."