BrikBC is a real estate tokenizaton project based in Australia. In addition to tokenizing and fractionalizing the physical properties, BRIKbc purchases NFTS created on the Ravencoin chain to be later displayed in the actual properties for tentants to enjoy. These NFTS are also displayed in the BRIKbc Brisbane business office. Brik constantly keeps an eye on the artists who mint their work on the Ravencoin blockchain, as they only buy NFT art pieces from artists minting their art on the Ravencoin blockchain. With a business model that takes advantage of the different facets of blockchain, WAGMINFT wanted to learn more!
WAGMINFT: You are fractionalizing real estate and putting it on the Ravencoin blockchain. Tell us what that means, and what problem it solves?
BRIK (Luis Miguel Aleixo): Fractionalizing/Tokenizing real estate is the process where a Real Estate Property’s ownership is fractionalized, and numerous parties are on a journey together and share the benefits that the property brings to a group of people on that same journey. Our tokenization model is specifically structured as follows:
1.The Real Estate Property’s Title Deed is owned by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), an Australian Private company (Pty Ltd).
2.Each Property is represented by a different Property Token series.
3.Each Property Token is attached to a share in the SPV (Property Tokens have the same rights as the Shares in the SPV).
4.Our Property Tokens are recorded on the Ravencoin blockchain(2ndProperty Token series onwards)
To articulate the problem we were trying to solve, I wil provide some back ground that has taken us on the journey where we are today. Given the experiences guiding and mentoring family businesses (as a CPA Accountant in Australia for 28 years) and our own family Real Estate projects for around 30 years, following are some of the problems that existed 30 years ago that are the same today, but much bigger. For example:
1.Vast increase in Real Estate Property prices every year (becoming out of each for the everyday person).
2. Mortgage loan given the disproportion between annual income and property purchase cost.
3.Traditional Banks not lending because they want the 20% deposit from buyers.
4. Banks making it harder to lend (tighter lending policies).
5. High Transaction costs to buy (government taxes).
6. Hard to sell a property if you urgently need the funds (illiquid).
7. People are classed as too old to borrow money once they reach 50+.
“Given the various problems for the everyday person to access Real Estate Investment that I have directly or indirectly observed and/or been directly involved, two years ago we decided to do something about it and use blockchain to help solve the Problem.“
WAGMINFT: What is your backstory, and what inspired you to come onto the Ravencoin Blockchain.
BRIK (Luis Miguel Aleixo): I’m an Australian CPA Accountant, and I have worked as a Strategic Accountant/Tax Advisor/Mentor with family businesses involved in Real Estate and the Building/Construction industry for 28years (ranging from Property Developers, Builders, Trades, Engineers etc). Over the last 30 years with my co-founder and life partner, Melinda Aleixo, as a family we have also built and renovated residential Real Estate properties. Two years ago I started researching how Blockchain could help solve the traditional Real Estate problems faced by the every day person wanting to invest in Real Estate. In my research, I discovered that we were not unique in Australia, but people in US, UK, Europe, Asia, and other developed continents/countries had similar problems to us. Then I also discovered that Developing countries in Africa, South America and Asia also had other major problems that were even bigger than ours, like people that never banked before, corruption around records of property ownership and many more. Given my background and working with legal structures and restructuring entities over many years, I developed our Real Estate Tokenization legal structure model to be compliant with all Australian legislations that touches Australian Real Estate Property. After discussions and planning with our services provider, business partner and global leader in Asset Tokenization on the blockchain, DigiShares,
…”we started the journey by having our BRIKbc Property Tokens Platform built and maintained by Digishares.”
The Ethereum blockchain was the first chain to Tokenized Real Estate in our industry. When we started our journey last year, Digishares only had the Ethereum blockchain, and that is where we launched our first Brisbane property, BRIKkoala Property Token series. After experiencing issues with high gas/transactionfees in minting/creating our first Property Token series on the Ethereum blockchain, and
…”realising that the high gas fees was going to be an issue for us and our Token holders in the future. This lead us down the pathway to the Ravencoin blockchain.”
After discussions with Digishares and their plans to add Ravencoin blockchain as a second chain to where their clients could mint Tokenized Real Estate, I started
BRIKbc Projects Australian Real Estate Property on the Blockchain. esearching what Ravencoin was all aboutand the following critical elements we needed that took us forward over the next 10 years and beyond:•The Fundamentalsof the blockchain;•The Community•The Scalablilty;and•Low Gas Fees Q2 (b)
WAGMINFT: What did Digishares do for you, and what can you share with other tokenization projects that want make their company SEC compliant.
BRIK (Luis Miguel Aleixo): Digishares played a critical role in the beginning when I started exploring with Claus Skaaning (CEO of Digishares) what we wanted to do, and then creating our Tokenized Real Estate Platform and maintaining our Platform today. I have always been an early adopter of all things new technology, and am always looking for new technology that facilitates efficiencies in businesses. But I’m not an IT coder, tech developer or blockchain techy. So to explore blockchain in solving the problem of traditional Real Estate, having Digishares to explore whether we could do what we wanted to do, using blockchain technology was critical as part of those early steps.
However, you need to first work out how the tokenization of Real Estate is going to comply with your local country’s and state’s laws from a basic compliance perspective. Looking at Foreign ownership rules, SEC rules (Australian Securities & Investments Commissions (ASIC) our equivalent), Capital Gains Tax with Tax Authorities, tax duties at the various levels of governments and any other statutory authorities dealing with real estate property. Given my background, I navigated the first part from our Australian compliance perspective in creating our Tokenization Model. The second part was to discuss with Claus from Digishares how it would work from a blockchain perspective, and the tech side of things in creating the platform for our Tokenized Real Estate Property Token Series.
My advice to my colleagues that are planning to tokenize various real estate properties:
1.Seek advice in your local Country around the compliance matters of tokenizing real estate, if you haven’t got skill base.
2.Reach out to Digishares to seek guidance on the process, creating the platform, as well as maintaining it.
WAGMiNFT: How does someone buy a fractional share of BRIK property?
BRIK (Luis Miguel Aleixo): We keep the process very simple in how people buy a fraction (Property Token) of each Property we that we tokenize. Simply follow these three easy steps:
1.Register on our BRIKbc Property Tokens PlatformLink: https://platform.brikbcprojects.com/platform/login
2.Deposit $USDC Digital Currency in your nnew accountcreated in our Platform.
3. Purchase the Property Token/s you wish to buy.
4.Your account now shows your Property Portfolio of Property Tokens you own.
WAGMINFT: What is next for BRIK?
“Our Vision is to keep providing access to Australian Luxury Residential Investment Real Estate Properties to the everyday person from anywhere in the world“.
We will do this by the plan we have to Tokenize eleven properties in the first year, and twenty properties each year from the second year onwards, in the location of Brisbane (2032 Olympics City), Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast (in our State of Queensland, Australia). As part of the journey with our BRIK family of Property Token Holders, we also see ourselves as playing a key role in educating and providing awareness of Real Estate fundamentals and latest trends.
To learn more about Brik please visit their website Brikbc.projects.com
Written by: Sunnie/@Sunnie4mj on Twitter *Disclosure: I have a financial stake in Brikbc.
