  Many recent social media posts and news may create a perception of big
success in the use of blockchain for the real estate industry, land
registration and protection of titles and property rights. A sobering outlook
is crucial because misleading concepts may bury the whole idea of blockchain
use. The paper aims to research the possibilities of blockchain and other
distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and applicability of these technologies
for different purposes in real estate, property rights and public registries.
Blockchain, which is distinguished from permissioned systems as the technology
of the immutable ledger that does not require authorities, is a new word in
governance. However, this technology has some principal features that can
restrain its implementation at the state level, and thus require further
research and development. The application of blockchain requires a proper
architecture of overlaid technologies to support changes of outdated and
mistaken data, address issues of digital identity and privacy, legal compliance
and enforceability of smart contracts and scalability of the ledger. This paper
shows the constraints of the technology's properties which were not explained
before in the context of title rights and land registration even though
technological limits are known in more specific technical sources. Along with
the known benefits this meant to help to avoid misinterpretation of some DLT
features by non-technical people. A multidisciplinary approach in analysing the
technology and laws helped to better understand what can and cannot be
beneficial for public registries and the protection of property rights. The
presented outcomes can be laid down as requirements for the technical protocols
aimed at addressing the issues of DLT and public policies to put blockchain at
the service of society.
