Before I explore the Real Estate Asset Ledger (REAL) token and its upcoming ICO, I want to give some context on my beliefs / opinions on the direction of the economy to hopefully give some insight on the basis of my conclusions with http://www.real.markets. This is my honest, unwonkanised (non sugar-coated) opinion, some may disagree, some may agree, lets dig in.
The Debt Ceiling Is Cracking
Anyone who is following the economy closely will know, its getting messy. The economy is a debt bearing system, fuelled by fractional reserve lending, aided with the misguided principles of Keynesian economics. Its a system where more debt must be created (raising the debt ceiling) every few cycles to prolong its inevitable collapse. Its a system of musical chairs that ALWAYS ends badly. http://www.usdebtclock.org/world-debt-clock.html
The Warning Signs
The warning signs of a financial system gone bad can be seen everywhere, this is particularly relevant in the real estate market with the stagnation of interest rates and the FEDs inability to position a significant rise. Another red flag can be found in the manipulation of the commodities market, which has been a historical cross reference of economic performance. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-14/first-silver-now-gold-deutsche-bank-admits-it-also-rigged-gold-prices-legal-settleme
So Where Does This Leave Real Estate?
I believe the real estate market will fair better than the bond and stock market. This is due to RE being a tangible asset with its intrinsic 'need' as a societal norm. Investors bailing out of a failing stock and bond market will be looking for more secure stores of wealth, these will be found in blockchain, precious metals and real estate. However the real estate market wont come off unscathed, many major cities in the western world have reached a proximity of overvaluation and the bursting bubble in these locations will most likely see plummeting prices as banks start tightening their lending belts in light of liquidity issues.
REAL Value Proposition
Because REAL markets is a cross-over between blockchain and real estate, it is in a great position to capitalise from the influx of traditional capital bailing out of the old system. REAL's greatest value proposition (when compared to other RE cryptos) lies within its ability to offer investors the option to pick and choose the locations of their investment/s, giving holders the option to dodge the overvalued locations and target places with development potential.
REAL Overview
REAL in its most broad description is a real estate crowdfunding platform. REAL seeks to tokenise the real estate market, by breaking down properties into divisible units and allowing investors to buy portions of these property units. These property units (RPP) will in turn generate rental income and future capital appreciation. The REAL solution is to lower the barriers of entry in RE while increasing market liquidity on a global scale. REAL will be elevating cross-boarder transactions by creating a blockchain ecosystem where investors can search properties based on price and location.
REAL Revenue Model
REAL's revenue model could be compared to the model being developed by Populous (PPT). The platform has a token lock-in mechanism which generates income (paid in ETH) based on rental yield. Capital appreciation could also be made in the event of a property sale, or should you sell your units in the property at a higher valuation.
Each investor will be able to exchange (REAL) tokens bought during the ICO, for property participation (RPP) tokens inside the platform. (RPP) tokens are the currency of the underlying property and can be traded back for (REAL) in the REAL marketplace.
REAL Whitepaper
http://www.real.markets/static/wp/en/REAL_Whitepaper.pdf
REAL Team
The REAL Team have a wealth of skills and knowledge in startups which is a major plus when building a blockchain business from the ground up. They also look to be self funding some of the REAL project, which shows they have a vested interest in its success.
Conclusion
While the real estate market maybe in a precarious position with regards to economic stability. REAL offers one of the better RE solutions in the crypto space, enabling users to pick and choose locations that may in-fact benefit from the coming economic transition we currently face. One of the most exciting things about this project (for me) is the correlation on the price of (REAL) to the monthly revenue returns. The more REAL appreciates, the more you'll earn.
Thanks for reading :)
[Disclaimer: please do you own due diligence when investing and don’t solely take my point of view as the only angle. I highly recommend everybody dig through the projects bitcointalk, reddit and team linkedin profiles to help formulate your own opinion – I thank you so much for reading and wish you successful dividend returns]
Ryan Jorgensen | Blockchain enthusiast who only gets FOMO on scheduled dividend payouts.
Twitter: @CryptoDividends
Website: http://jorgo.photography/
Crypto Dividends focuses on the niche blockchain business models that generate passive income without the need to sell or speculate. We seek to discover and promote the best dividend yielding cryptos.