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diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6da9b7e --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,87 @@ +New House on the Block +====================== + +A project created at AngelHack Boston 2015.06. The idea is to use the Bitcoin +block chain to facilitate real estate transactions. + +It works by assuming that we can associate a token amount of Bitcoin with a +property and call that token the title. Thus, the owner of the token becomes +the owner of the property. The legal implications of this assumption are not +addressed. This is more of a thought experiment. + +Continuing under this assumption, it's possible to streamline the transaction +of the title and payment using Bitcoin. + +The buyer initiates a multi-signature transaction with the seller, in which the +payment `P` will be sent to the seller and the title/token `T` will be sent to +the buyer. After the buyer signs this transaction, it is sent to the seller. At +this point, the transaction is not complete, and no money has changed hands. +Once the seller signs and the transaction is validated, the payment and token +change hands. + + Buyer creates: + + Transaction + +-------------------+------------------+ + | | | + | P BTC -> Seller | Buyer signature | + | | | + +-------------------+------------------+ + | | | + | Buyer <- T BTC | | + | | | + +-------------------+------------------+ + + + + | + v + + Transaction sent to Seller + + Seller adds signature + +-------------------+------------------+ + | | | + | P BTC -> Seller | Buyer signature | + | | | + +-------------------+------------------+ + | | | + | Buyer <- T BTC | Seller signature | + | | | + +-------------------+------------------+ + + Transaction is then validated + and completes + +Many portions of the code are hard-coded to facilitate easy demoing at the +hackathon. It requires 2 [Coinbase](https://www.coinbase.com/) accounts. I took +advantage of the [Coinbase Sandbox](https://sandbox.coinbase.com/) in order to +save myself the trouble of dealing with real Bitcoins. + +As of this writing, Coinbase doesn't expose a way to perform “multisig” +transactions in their sandbox environment, so this demo emulates the process by +initiating 2 different transactions instead of 1. This doesn't provide any of +the trust from the single-transaction model described above, but it works well +enough for the purpose of a demo. + +The code creates an HTTP server and provides an endpoint (`/buy/`) that will +perform 2 transactions, sending Bitcoin from buyer to seller and “token” (in +this case more Bitcoin) from seller to buyer. + + +## Running +1. `$ cp .env.sample .env` + + Add to `.env` the API keys and secrets from 2 Coinbase accounts. + +2. Replace the Bitcoin addresses in [main.go](main.go) with the addresses of your +2 accounts. + +3. `$ go build` + +4. `$ ./new-house-on-the-block` + +5. Visit `http://localhost:3000/buy/` to initiate the transaction. + + +## License +Licensed under the MIT License. See the included LICENSE file. |