Dear Editor,

Lisa Hanna, Member of Parliament (MP) for St Ann South Eastern has made a solid point about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as a tool to be used for concrete applications for our economic development. I would also like to add another concrete application I learnt about — real estate trading.

Considering that I will become a real estate agent in April, I did some research on NFTs and real estate. To my surprise, NFT title deeds could be good for stakeholders in the real estate industry, as well as the underlying technology of blockchain.

NFT title deeds, through blockchain tech, would already have the certification of being the original. With proper oversight and legislative framework in the Registrar of Titles and Registration (Strata Titles Acts), the Registrar of Titles would have an easier job of processing real estate exchanges between real estate agents, lawyers, and their clients without the long lag time of bureaucracy at the Stamp Office (the digital verification would have already verified it for them, making the process easier) or the costs (with the exception of Stamp Duty and Transfer Tax).

Also, the underlying technology of blockchain can introduce smart contracts, whereby, after the buyers, sellers, and respective agents agree to the terms of the sales contract, the escrow/closing funds are transferred automatically from the buyer to the seller (and agents), which would mean less time and money spent on supervision of escrow funds and more time and money spent by realtors and lawyers on anything else, such as improving their practice or at least having some free time and extra funds or better negotiations of terms. Smart contracts work even better with digital currencies — central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), for instance, as well as stablecoins, essentially CBDCs with blockchain technology. A US real estate technology firm, Propy, has been implementing those technologies with the help of several US real estate brokerages.

While I would agree with the MP about the value of NFT applications to the economy, and would add further applications, I would like to add a sense of urgency to her request.

For too long we have let the economic opportunity train pass us by the wayside as a country, including developing an efficient and sustainable orange economy for tourism, largely due to the fact that international hoteliers have their own craft markets inside the hotels with craft based upon Jamaican culture but not made in Jamaica, leaving local craft traders and producers with little, while other countries can commercialise our culture and expatriate wealth.

If we aren’t wise enough to drive the legislative framework and allocate private and public capital to the build-up of NFT usage in the economy, we will soon be at the back of the line again, while NFTs based on Jamaican culture garner insane profits but few, if any, Jamaican owners benefiting from it.

Marcus White

whitemarc918@gmail.com