Stockholm-based company ChromaWay has partnered with the New South Wales Land Registry Services (NSW LRS) to work on a system of property conveyance using ChromaWay’s blockchain technology.

Great news from the ChromaWay team: We've teamed up with the New South Wales Land Registry Services to bring #blockchain tech to land registry contracts ! Find more information here: https://t.co/uZm3oY3OmE — ChromaWay (@chromaway) October 16, 2018

Testing the Waters

A proof of concept is in the works, according to the Financial Review, that will demonstrate the use of the blockchain in facilitating land transactions, providing smart contracts, and recording data.

ChromaWay has reportedly been offering similar services to clients in its native Sweden since 2014, including the Swedish Land Registry. They’ve also worked with Indian state Andhra Pradesh in their efforts to prevent land ownership fraud.

The company said in a statement regarding the partnership that using blockchain for land rights will provide an “incontrovertible chain of ownership,” adding:

“[blockchain] also has potential to transform land planning and development processes with a simplified, more efficient approach that removes burdensome paper-based processes and duplicated work that is currently the norm.”

Proponents of the blockchain have long touted its possible use as a keeper of land rights records, and Australia has taken this to heart. The NSW LRS will be testing ChromaWay’s system to determine what the best use of the blockchain for them would be, according to CEO Adam Bennett.

Better Security Needed for Land Conveyance

Other online property handling systems Australia has tried to put into practice have not had the best of luck. Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), the country’s current online platform for property conveyance, has suffered hacking attacks like the one stole $250,000 from a woman in the process of settling her house.

Australia adopted it in the process of converting its property records system to digital from the 150-year-old Torrens paper title system, a move made after the NSW government mandated a transition to fully digital records by July of next year. Once the switch is made, the government plans to cancel all paper certificates of title, and banks are in the process of digitizing their records. Thousands of transactions are being conducted on PEXA, according to Business Insider.

ChromaWay contends that the blockchain will provide greater security, greater transparency, and less data duplication than the traditional system. In an interview Bennett said:

“By working with a well-recognized blockchain partner such as ChromaWay, NSW LRS will accelerate our learning and leverage proven approaches from implementations in Sweden, India, and other countries around the world. Obviously, any changes to NSW LRS core systems, and core and non-core services will need to be approved by the regulator/Office of the Registrar General”.