From this perspective, SegWit itself is a weakness infecting Bitcoin, and that’s why rather than implement SegWit, a piece of the community hard forked into a new blockchain called Bitcoin Cash in 2017.
SegWit’s ability to give blocks more weight, or transaction density, relies on the idea that some blockchain data will be kept off the original chain, which is instead used as a sort of reference or index. Some believe that offloading data from the blockchain is already a failure, as it’s like admitting that blockchain alone can’t function.
Bitcoin Cash is essentially legacy Bitcoin before SegWit, and its scaling strategy is simply to increase the block size and keep all data on-chain. This is a decentralization strategy opposite that of the Bitcoin Core group, which sees SegWit as the first stack atop a multilayered blockchain.
There are countless more ideas that riff off Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash, or take a new tack. SegWit is simply one step in what the largest developer group of the largest cryptocurrency believes is the right path.
Securitize Using Digital Securities to Help Japan’s Real Estate
Two companies have developed a blockchain-based solution to address the large number of vacant homes in the Japanese countryside.
Securitize, a compliance platform for token issuers, has joined forces with Tokyo-based LIFULL to create a funding platform using digital securities to invest in real estate. According to a March 10 press release, the collaboration has been successful in proving that blockchain technology and digital securities are more effective crowdfunding for the Japanese real estate market than traditional methods.
LIFULL Social Funding, in collaboration with BUIDL, a subsidiary of Securitize, will be using the new platform to revitalize many homes in Japan that have fallen into disuse or been abandoned entirely. CEO and co-founder of Securitize Carlos Domingo gave his thoughts on the project and what it means for Japan:
“Our collaborative success in creating a comprehensive platform solution for crowdfunded real estate funds is very exciting, and it is a great start for Securitize and LIFULL as we work to modernize the Japanese real estate market together.”
Why the real estate market in Japan needs a boost
The move by Securitize is intended to provide a means for investors to crowdfund real estate in less desirable locations of Japan. LIFULL explained the issues behind this investment in their own statement:
«To address vacant houses nationwide, it is necessary to actively promote renovation and conversion of these homes for other uses to maintain and improve the value of the real estate. That’s a difficult problem. Regional revitalization of real estate crowdfunding is being promoted as a solution to this problem.”
The eight million abandoned, or “ghost” homes in Japan are the result of a massive urbanization trend in the Asian nation intensifying since the bubble burst in the late 80’s. Prior to that, the Japanese real estate market had grown almost exponentially.
Many jobs are available only in major cities in Japan, and families are being forced out of the countryside as schools close from low attendance. As a result, their properties are seen as so undesirable many are simply given away to any interested party.
