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Bapple Realty Completes First Commission Split Using Zap Smart ContractsZUG, Switzerland, July 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New York's Bapple Realty, this week, became the first in the world to use blockchain-based "smart contracts" to split back office earned commissions on deals. The brokerage announced that it now uses smart contracts to receive and then allocate earned broker commissions on leases and sales. The inaugural use of the smart contract was for a split commission on a luxury apartment in Manhattan's exclusive Soho district. The commission for the Spring Street residence totaled $3,400 -- and paid in Ethereum tokens.
The smart contracts allow the renter to seamlessly pay the brokerage fee and commissions to the broker handling the deal. It thus guards against brokerage firms, office managers or group leaders withholding their agents' commissions for non-pre-negotiated reasons. The smart contract used by Bapple is powered by Zap.org, a platform that empowers smart contracts with real-world data and events. Bapple Realty board member, Nick Spanos, cofounded Zap.org, a pioneer in blockchain smart contract development. Kumail Akbari, Zap.org's Director of Digital Development, spearheaded the project. Spanos explained, "These transactions are ow automated, preventing human error and disputes in the process. Agents can now use a smart contract to choose how to get their commission paid, whether in cash, bitcoin or ethereum. It's one small step for blockchain, and a huge leap for the entire real estate industry." This isn't Bapple's first venture into blockchain and cryptocurrency. In early 2014, Bapple gained notoriety for facilitating what was likely the first Bitcoin real estate transaction, when a tenant paid $18,000 in rent and commissions using the leading digital currency. "Zap.org is focused on facilitating the development community for smart contracts. Not only do we provide oracles for smart contracts to get data, we design customized smart contracts for corporate clients like Bapple Realty," added Spanos. The Zap.org Project is tackling among the biggest challenges in the evolving blockchain industry: meeting the need for oracles that can provide smart contracts with access to off-chain data. About Bapple Realty Bapple Realty is a boutique brokerage in Manhattan's chic SoHo neighborhood. It offers a wide range of residential rental and sale options in the borough, and is locally known for brokering a prolific number of off-market building deals in SoHo and adjacent neighborhoods. Find more information at www.bapple.com. About ZAP ZAP is an ethereum-based ERC-20 token powering an oracle marketplace for smart contracts. The platform's mission is to foster the creation of a standardized and self-sustained platform-agnostic smart contract data layer enhanced by the world's best open marketplace for oracles, dramatically lowering barriers to entry into the multi-billion dollar alternative data industry and the smart contract ecosystem. The Zap project is managed and directed by the Synapse Foundation, whose mission is to oversee development, increase community engagement, and sponsor participation within the Zap ecosystem. Find out more information at Zap.org. CONTACT: Gabriella Velez, [email protected]
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