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Protect land registry entries against retroactive tampering

Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: Government agencies and public administration · Organisation: National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR), Republik Georgien · Maturity level: Production

The National Agency of Public Registry of the Republic of Georgia, together with the Bitfury Group, secures land titles against retroactive alteration. The state registry database remains authoritative, while the state of a permissioned chain is periodically anchored into the Bitcoin blockchain via a distributed timestamping service. Owners thereby receive a cryptographic proof of their entry that can be verified independently against the public chain.

Documentation status

• Project status: Production — Agreement and pilot in April 2016, expansion in February 2017 and subsequent integration into the digital registry processes of the NAPR.
• Evidence: Evidence medium
• Editorial review: pending

Description

The National Agency of Public Registry of the Republic of Georgia, together with the Bitfury Group, secures property titles against subsequent manipulation. After the post-Soviet privatisation, trust in state property registers was low because entries could be altered by insiders and owners had no independently verifiable proof of their entry at a specific point in time. The solution does not replace the existing register but regularly anchors its state in a public blockchain that is not controlled by any authority.

In April 2016, the Georgian National Agency of Public Registry, Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto and the company Bitfury agreed on a joint pilot project to secure property titles; the project was expanded in February 2017. The leading data management remains with the existing registry system of the NAPR, into which the blockchain component was integrated. Bitfury operates a private, access-restricted chain for this purpose, the state of which is periodically anchored in the Bitcoin blockchain via a distributed timestamp service. Owners receive a cryptographic proof of their entry, which can be verified against the public chain, so that any later change would be detectable. Reports mention around 100,000 anchored titles as of August 2019, while other sources indicate significantly higher numbers of processed registry transactions; the figures vary depending on source and reference date and should be conservatively stated in any publication. The actual contribution of the case lies in the architectural pattern: protection against manipulation through anchoring in an external, public infrastructure without having to replace the core system.

Perspectives

B2B — organisations perspective

For banks, notaries and real estate companies, the risk in transactions decreases when the existence of a property entry can be independently verified. Organisations with their own critical registers, for example in certification or document management, can adopt the anchoring pattern without affecting their existing data management.

B2C — consumers perspective

Owners receive a cryptographic proof of their registry entry, which they can verify themselves against the public blockchain. They are thus no longer solely reliant on information from the authority.

Employees perspective

For employees in registry management, an effective barrier against internal manipulation is created, which also removes suspicion from themselves. IT security officers must operate and monitor the timestamp service and anchoring intervals permanently.

Benefits

General

• Subsequent changes to registry entries become detectable.
• The existing core system remains leading and does not need to be replaced.
• Citizens receive independently verifiable proof of ownership.
• The protection against manipulation relies on an infrastructure that is not controlled by any authority.

B2B — organisations

• Reduced risk in real estate transactions and in the lending of real property.
• A transferable architectural pattern for other critical registers.

B2C — consumers

• Independent verifiability of one's own registry entry.
• Less dependence on trust in the authority.

Employees

• Effective barrier against internal manipulation.
• Clear technical basis for information provided to owners.

Challenges

General

• The evidential value of the cryptographic proof in case of dispute must be legally clarified.
• The figures for the number of anchored titles vary significantly depending on source and reference date.
• The anchoring protects against subsequent changes, not against an initially incorrect entry.

B2B — organisations

• The benefit depends on market participants actually verifying the proofs.

Employees

• The timestamp service and anchoring intervals must be operated permanently.

Technology foundation

The procedure combines a private, access-restricted chain with regular anchoring of its state in the public Bitcoin blockchain via a distributed timestamp service. This combination is the core of the case: the state retains sovereignty over its registry data while immutability is tied to an infrastructure that no authority controls.

Implementation examples

Blockchain anchoring of property titles at the NAPR

After post-Soviet privatisation, trust in state property registers was low: entries could be altered retrospectively by insiders, and owners had no independently verifiable proof of their entry’s existence at a specific time.

The NAPR regularly anchors the state of its property register together with the Bitfury Group in the Bitcoin blockchain. Owners receive a cryptographic proof that can be independently verified.

The project was agreed in April 2016 together with economist Hernando de Soto and expanded in February 2017. Bitfury operates a private, access-restricted chain whose state is periodically anchored in the Bitcoin blockchain via a distributed timestamping service, while the existing NAPR register system remains leading. Reports mention around 100,000 anchored titles as of August 2019; other sources cite significantly higher numbers of processed register transactions, so figures should be stated conservatively.

Around 100,000 anchored property titles as of August 2019; figures vary depending on source and reference date.

Manipulability of register entries by insiders, lack of independent proof of ownership for citizens, and the requirement to achieve tamper protection without replacing the existing core system.

Tags

Land register, Public administration, Bitcoin anchoring, Protection against manipulation, Proof of ownership

Sources

1. The Bitfury Group and Government of Republic of Georgia Expand Blockchain Pilot
2. Georgia: Authorities Use Blockchain Technology for Developing Land Registry
3. A Blockchain-Based Land Titling Project in the Republic of Georgia
4. The First Government To Secure Land Titles On The Bitcoin Blockchain Expands Project