Assignment: Capstone Project and PowerPoint Project
Blocksquare, a company headquartered in Slovenia, is looking to further transform the real estate market by providing a simple and safe way for online users to buy or sell commercial properties around the world. Blocksquare styles itself as the blockchain and real estate equivalent to the online-payment companies PayPal and Stripe, and has developed a set of protocols, tools, and APIs that can be integrated into existing online property platforms. The company has effectively created the infrastructure for a global commercial real estate market run on blockchain technology by enabling asset-management companies around the world to divide individual properties into virtual currency tokens. Real estate firms can then issue tokens for the properties they manage. Tokens can be bought or sold online via a decentralized, peer-to-peer system.
Tokenizing real estate opens the market to a global network of internet users, making it easier and more attractive for people to invest in commercial property. As a commercial property manager, Ruth has no doubt that this will have important implications for businesses and financial practitioners involved in the sale and purchase of commercial real estate. While changes in the payment ecosystem for commercial property would be of benefit to some, they would have a negative effect on others. Ruth sits down to draft a brief to her team so that they can consider the consequences of these developments.
Visit Blocksquare's website and do some additional research to learn more about tokenizing real estate. Use the following questions to guide your research:
1. What exactly does "tokenizing" commercial real estate mean, and what will this entail?
2. Which processes will be streamlined through the use of online payments and blockchain technology?
3. What are the costs and risks involved?
4. Who stands to benefit from revolutionizing payments?
5. Which products and services will cease to exist?
Your task:
For your slide-deck presentation and accompanying write-up, outline a strategy whereby commercial real estate firms such as Ruth's might benefit from participating in the tokenized real estate market. Include an analysis of the risks, costs, and benefits involved.
Prepare your slide deck using the accompanying Microsoft PowerPoint template (available for download with this capstone project on the Online Campus). Apart from the cover page, which must state which problem you are addressing, you are welcome to customize the template as much as you like. Your slide deck should be between 10 and 15 slides (excluding the cover page).
Introduction: Write a succinct paragraph in which you articulate the challenges faced by the company or protagonist. You may consider the following aspects:
1. Big picture (the background landscape of the protagonist's industry or sector)
2. Small picture (the situation that the protagonist's company faces)
3. Specific issues that you are targeting
(±150 words)
Proposed plan of action: Outline your proposed solution to the problem. You may consider the following aspects:
1. What your proposed solution is
2. What evidence or thought logic supports your proposal
3. What challenges, side effects, shortcomings, and disadvantages your proposal may have, and why you still think your proposal is a good one
(±700 words)
Conclusion: Write a conclusion that sums up the key aspects of the problem and your solution
(±150 words)
Format your assignment according to the give formatting requirements:
1. The answer must be double spaced, typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the course title, the student's name, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The references and Citations should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.