Decentralized finance (defi) is no longer confined to the digital world. As we look around at some of the most important present-day issues, from buying a house to fighting climate change, defi is increasingly playing a crucial role.
Some may be skeptical, given how overhyped defi has been in the past. This is understandable. But it only takes a simple look around to see defi making a real impact on our lives in the real world.
And there’s good reason to believe this impact will only be amplified in the coming years. Innovators are implementing decentralized finance in ways that benefit many people’s lives. As these innovations proceed, more will be built on top of them.
Real estate
Using cryptocurrency tokens, investors can now purchase shares of existing homes and homes under construction. This improves access to the real estate market, as a wider range of people can now participate in transactions by investing small amounts.
Companies such as RealT, Propy, and Homebase are experimenting with the best ways to tokenize real estate so that it works for the broadest range of people. It’s already catching on.
According to RWA, an analytics company for tokenized real-world assets, there are currently $31 million in active real estate loans — a huge market for tokenization. RealT was launched in 2019 with the promise of making real estate accessible for investments as low as $50. Three and a half years later, more than 390 houses worth over $92 million have been tokenized. In addition, Propy has processed over $4 billion in transactions in the U.S.
