Retired banker Rick Phillips likes investing in property. But instead of putting down a deposit for a place he has seen, or investing money into funds listed on the stock market, the cryptocurrency enthusiast chooses to buy digital tokens that represent ownership of physical properties.
The Los Angeleno is one of a small number of investors testing the waters in property tokenisation, a nascent way to invest in rental real estate that gives would-be buyers the ability to hold a digital sliver of a bricks-and-mortar building. So far, Phillips has invested $20,000 across several properties.
Property tokenisation companies such as Lofty, RealT and HouseBit offer a range of buildings to invest in, using either cryptocurrency or standard bank deposits.