Poland’s first real estate transaction based on the block-chain technology provided by Atende

In August 2018, ShareSpace, a Polish startup providing innovative technological solutions to tenants in the scope of rapid access and management of the process of renting service and co-working offices all over Poland, managed to have a transaction carried out, using the block-chain technology based on an Atende’s solution.

Responding to the expectations of ShareSpace online platform users (freelancers, startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and corporations), the innovative block-chain solution was used to ensure the security of the rental transaction, the validity of commercial and legal terms and conditions, and the reduction of costs of intermediation and consulting. The access to, verification and validation of documents and commercial arrangements take place on the basis of a decentralised platform, which significantly reduces the time of negotiation and retains - at the same time - the security guarantees of the entire online process, even with the involvement of many actors.

The first transaction was possible thanks to the commitment of a pioneering working group. A detailed description of test scenarios and application test cases verifying the consistency of the block-chain based transaction with functional requirements were ensured by Atende S.A. (listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange), a company which specialises in providing advanced IT solutions within the scope of IT infrastructure and innovative software.

- Block-chain in the process of executing rental agreements is of particular importance. Thanks to the attributes of invariability of information saved in the block-chain, all parties to the transaction are confident about the defined arrangements. Such a method of recording is deemed to satisfy the requirements of the so-called durable medium. In addition, the Atende's solution presupposes the existence of the so-called trusted hubs that raise security of the transaction even more. Involved in the undertaking under analysis were the block-chain networks of both ShareSpace and Atende, as well as a trusted hub of Hogan Lovells, a law firm - comments Michał Legumina, Head of Innovations and Development in Atende S.A.

The Systemic Research Institute at the Polish Academy of Science, responsible for the development of science in Poland (dealing with, inter alia, research related to IT, mathematics, and econometrics), and a leading block-chain technology expert (professor Stefan Dziembowski from the IT Institute, Department of Mathematics, IT and Mechanics in the Warsaw University) supervised the transaction.

The international company Hogan Lovells was responsible for managing the legal basis of the transaction and making sure that the project was carried out in accordance with applicable laws. The international consultancy Cushman & Wakefield was engaged in the transaction with regards to the business and market analysis, making sure that the highest real estate rental standards were maintained.

One of the parties to the transaction was Business Link – the largest co-working space operator in Poland offering access to the business community of the startups and corporations. - For Business Link, professionalism and innovativeness are top priorities, so a block-chain contract was sort of natural to us.  Thanks to the automation of the entire process, not only did we save time, but also enabled professionals to have easier access to our network of 17 unique spaces located in the largest cities in Poland – says Maciej Król, Growth Director in Business Link.

The tenant was a company called Ricoh. Thanks to the rental transaction on the platform, carried out by Ricoh in just 10 minutes (from search activation to the signing of the agreement), the company obtained access to the network of tenants of Business Link spaces in Wrocław and other Polish cities. Thanks to delivered tools, Ricoh, a leader of solutions supporting modern working places, was not only able to use the block-chain technology speeding up the signing of the contract, but was also provided with access to the Business Link community, which increases the potential sales market for our services and products - says Rafał Gutkowski, Office Services Director responsible for the transaction on the side of Ricoh Polska.

The use of the block-chain technology in the real estate market is quite unprecedented in Poland, while securing the integrity of commercial and legal terms sets out a precedent globally.