Fractional Ownership of NFTs and Blockchain in Real Estate Transactions: Key legal and regulatory considerations

Thomas Mack | Mack Legal, PLLC

Thomas is principal at Mack Legal, PLLC. He has advised leading innovators on the development of new technologies and business models, particularly in financial technology. He has counseled clients on distributed ledger technology (“DLT”), blockchain, and cryptocurrency-related matters while practicing at a global law firm, and in house as Corporate Counsel to a top U.S. digital asset exchange. His clients at Mack Legal include companies in various stages of development, from startup to Fortune 100.

Thomas holds a Juris Doctorate from NYU School of Law and is admitted in New York and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Thomas Mack is principal at Mack Legal, PLLC. He has advised leading innovators on the development of new technologies and business models, particularly in financial technology. He has counseled clients on distributed ledger technology (“DLT”), blockchain, and cryptocurrency-related matters while practicing at a global law firm, and in house as Corporate Counsel to a top U.S. digital asset exchange. His clients at Mack Legal include companies in various stages of development, from startup to Fortune 100. Thomas holds a Juris Doctorate from NYU School of Law, and is admitted in New York and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Richard Widmann | Product Counsel, Google

Richard Widmann is a Product Counsel at Google where he advises the business on launching new and innovative products and technologies. Recently, he is working on creating best practices to help major companies navigate new challenges presented by blockchain technologies. Richard is also one of Google’s representatives on the Hedera Hashgraph Council – a decentralized governing body made up of major enterprises participating in the Hedera Hashgraph ecosystem. Richard is a former middle school english teacher.

Kris Ferranti | Shearman & Sterling LLP

Kris is a partner in the Real Estate practice at Shearman & Sterling LLP. He has extensive experience representing clients in complex commercial real estate transactions, including in the areas of acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, development projects, foreign investment, financings and ground and space leasing. His practice also focuses on the use of Blockchain technology and the digitization of assets in commercial real estate. Kris regularly represents financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds, investment funds, family offices, and individual and institutional investors and developers. He is recognized by Super Lawyers, Law360, and Crain’s New York Business as a “Rising Star” in Real Estate.

Kris has authored several publications and has been involved in a number of speaking engagements at seminars and conferences and on podcasts and webcasts on various real estate subjects.

I. Understanding blockchain and distributed ledger technology | 1:00 – 1:20
II. Second-generation blockchains, smart contracts, and non-fungible tokens | 1:20 – 1:40
III. Key legal and regulatory themes | 1:40 – 2:00

IV. Break | 2:00 – 2:10

V. Blockchain basics and non-fungible tokens | 2:10 – 2:25
VI. Blockchain as a use case for commercial real estate | 2:25 – 2:40

•  Issues with commercial real estate potentially solved with blockchain
•  Comparison to REITs, funds, and crowdfunding platforms
•  Potential drawbacks of tokenizing commercial real estate

VII. Crypto commercial real estate structures | 2:40 – 2:55

•  Equity tokenization structures
•  Dirt and land registry tokenization structures and regimes
•  Case study of example transactions and land registry systems
•  Preparing blockchain enabling organizational documents
•  Creating cryptographic hash and coding smart contracts
•  Primary market issuances and secondary market exchanges

VIII. Key legal and regulatory considerations | 2:55 – 3:10