Both Illinois REALTORS® and NAR staff participated in a real estate industry half-day session on blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

The event, held at the new WeWork space in the AMA building on Wabash in Chicago attracted a wide variety of industry practitioners.  Representatives from the brokerage, legal, title, technology and financial services sectors of the industry attended the event that was put together by the Chicago Blockchain Center (CBC).

The CBC is a public and privately supported collaborative that was started in part with the state of Illinois Blockchain Initiative which is part of the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology.

John Mirkovic, Deputy Recorder of Deeds, Cook County Recorder of Deeds kicked off the “Blockchain and Real Estate Symposium” with a keynote address. Three panel discussions followed:

  • “Challenges and Opportunities in the Construction/AEC Space;”
  • “A Discussion on the Current Regulatory and Legal Blockchain/Real Estate Space;” and
  • “Crypto-Finance and the Real Estate/Brokerage Perspective.”

(l to r) Sharon Gorrell, Illinois REALTORS® speaks during a panel discussion with Garen Vartanian, Reasi Inc.; Rachel Schwarz, Freeborn & Peters, LLP; Kreg Allison, Illinois IDFPR/Division of Real Estate; and John Mirkovic, Deputy Recorder of Deeds in Cook County.

(l to r) Vik Bangia, Verum Consulting, LLC, listens to Chad Curry, NAR. Simon Enwia, Building Block REIT, waits to offer his point of view.

Audience members listen intently.

Alexandra Prodromos of the Chicago Blockchain Center welcomes real estate professionals and others to the Real Estate and Blockchain Symposium Nov. 8 in Chicago.