Custodians and any other entities can selectively attest to their bitcoin balances through the real-time Proof of Reserves page hosted by Hoseki.
Hoseki, the world&rsquo;s first public Proof of Reserves platform, is proud to announce the launch of its real-time Proof of Reserves page. With this tool, anyone who owns or controls bitcoin can select to show proof of some or all of their funds in real time by connecting accounts, wallets, or other addresses to Hoseki.&nbsp;
The most recent insolvency crisis has solidified Hoseki&rsquo;s base assumption that transparency is sorely lacking and desperately needed in the digital asset industry. Voluntary, self-selective, self-regulated, and transparent tools are needed to build credibility and protect users.&nbsp; Hoseki is proud to lead the way by slowly raising a permissionless, decentralized, global economy from the ruins left by corrupt, opaque, and centralized legacy financial practices.&nbsp;
Bitcoin is many things to many users. But arguably its most important feature is its audit-ability. Bitcoin is perfectly auditable at both the network (macro)-level and the individual (micro) level. Hoseki is tirelessly working to build the best technology and experiences possible so that Bitcoin investors (both institutional and retail) can enjoy the property rights afforded to them by the Bitcoin protocol.&nbsp;
Hoseki was built for the sole purpose of building the infrastructure required to mature the industry through this native audit-ability starting with a proof-of-funds rails. . Today, we are proud to announce the launch of our public attestations board that allows anyone or entity &ndash; exchange, nation-state, local municipality, public company, or private company &ndash; to publicly attest to their Bitcoin reserves.
Here&rsquo;s how it works:
The interface is simple. Identity is done through twitter authentication and funds are attested through signature verification who&rsquo;s corresponding addresses are watched in perpetuity ensuring that the funds stays locked with the entity disclosing ownership of those funds. No two users can claim the same addresses on the platform ensuring that there is no cross-attestation. Additionally, if a user removes an address or wallet, that address cannot be re-attested for at least 60-days.

Custodians and any other entities can selectively attest to their bitcoin balances through the real-time Proof of Reserves page hosted by Ho

Hoseki Launches Real-Time Proof of Reserves Page for Bitcoin Owners

Custodians and any other entities can selectively attest to their bitcoin balances through the real-time Proof of Reserves page hosted by Hoseki.

Hoseki Launches Real-Time Proof of Reserves Page for Bitcoin Holders

As discussed <a href="https://www.hoseki.app/blog/bitcoin-credit-the-five-cs" rel="follow">in part one of this series</a>: the average American learns fairly early on the importance of maintaining a solid credit history and subsequently earning a respectable credit score. But the mechanisms that determine a credit score are often mysterious and opaque.&nbsp;
A Brief History of Credit Reporting
The consumer credit reporting industry in the U.S. dates back to the 1800&rsquo;s and at one point consisted of over 1,000 credit bureaus. Back then, credit reports included invasive details from a consumer&rsquo;s personality traits all the way down to details about their health. What could go wrong? With so many bureaus reporting on such ambiguous criteria, lenders had to battle horrible inefficiencies and would-be borrowers had to navigate frustrating subjectivity when applying for a loan. By 1970, lawmakers sought to empower consumers with the ability to address errors in reporting and modernize the credit reporting industry through the Fair Credit Reporting Act.&nbsp;
Today, there are 3 primary consumer reporting agencies (CRAs): Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. These credit bureaus are private, for-profit entities that have no formal relationship with banks or government agencies, despite their outsized influence over the daily affairs of every American. Their primary responsibility is to gather information from financial institutions about every person who has a social security number and subsequently produce a comprehensive credit report upon request.&nbsp;
Practically, this means that when John Doe applies for a credit card through ACME Bank, one of the first things that happens is ACME reaches out to Equifax, TransUnion and Experian to ask about John&rsquo;s credit history by running a credit check. Depending on their decision, they also report back to the CRAs whether or not the credit request was approved or denied. If approved, a new entry is created within John Doe&rsquo;s credit file and tracking on John&rsquo;s repayment begins. ACME communicates the details of the credit card: revolving or installment, total credit limit, account numbers, etc. From there, every month ACME notifies the CRAs of John Doe&rsquo;s activity: his credit card balance, if he made his monthly payment and whether or not that payment was made on time. Typically, a creditor only reports a payment as &ldquo;late&rdquo; if it is at least 30 days past due. So while ACME may charge a late fee if a payment is just 1 day late, it won&rsquo;t actually impact Mr. Doe&rsquo;s credit rating unless it goes past 30 days.&nbsp;
This process is followed for almost every significant financial event in John Doe&rsquo;s life. Each entry contributes to a comprehensive credit report which is further distilled and presented as an overly simplistic numeric credit score that ranges from 300-850. This score is known as FICO, named for the statistics company Fair, Isaac and Company that invented it. Typically, each CRA has a slightly different score for each consumer, and a lender who utilizes all three agencies for qualifying a buyer will rely on the middle of the 3 scores for the purposes of underwriting. So if John Doe has a 677 with Equifax, a 701 with TransUnion and a 689 with Experian, ACME bank will most likely consider his FICO score to be 689.&nbsp;
From the lender&rsquo;s standpoint, this is an extremely convenient way to somewhat reliably assess the creditworthiness of their potential borrower. If a borrower has historically been consistent in making payments, if they have a long track record of having loans in good standing and if they are not over-extended with debt relative to their income, their FICO score is likely to be in the high 700&rsquo;s or even 800&rsquo;s. From the consumer&rsquo;s perspective, maintaining a pristine credit history and obtaining a high credit score, also makes them a prime candidate for securing financing with the most favorable terms.&nbsp;
The prevailing FICO system leaves a lot to be desired and certainly has its shortcomings. As mentioned above, there is often very little recourse for a consumer who has erroneous or inaccurate information reflected on their credit report. Good luck challenging what ACME Bank has reported to Experian! But outside of these limitations, the long track record and consistency of the FICO system provides a level of familiar comfort for lenders that is not likely to go away any time soon.&nbsp;
FICO Scores Under a Bitcoin Standard
Humanity currently inhabits a debt-based monetary system which means the need to efficiently quantify who should be eligible to borrow and who should be excluded from such a privilege, will continue to be a cornerstone of lending. However, as society begins to transition to a digital world, outdated and subjective models like FICO seem to be ripe for innovation. It&rsquo;s difficult to fully imagine what will be possible under a bitcoin standard, but we have some clues about the improvements that are available for lenders when evaluating a borrower&rsquo;s creditworthiness. The mental models will continue to evolve as the asset matures, but the idea of replacing a highly centralized, low privacy and inconsistent mechanism like CRAs and FICO seem incompatible with many of Bitcoin&rsquo;s core principles.&nbsp;
When it comes to this &ldquo;C&rdquo;, the more worrisome outcome is that an even more centralized and invasive credit reporting system will emerge if governments are successful in implementing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). It is conceivable that CBDCs could usher in an expansive social credit system and begin including factors such as whether or not a parking ticket was paid or if an unpopular opinion was posted on social media.&nbsp;
While bitcoin wasn&rsquo;t necessarily designed to address the CRA and FICO issue, it does incentivize consumer behavior that moves us away from an economy that is built entirely on debt to a more sound economy where borrowing and lending is more transparent and disciplined. This becomes more apparent when unpacking the next &ldquo;C,&rdquo; which is a borrower&rsquo;s capacity.&nbsp;

As discussed in part one of this series : the average American learns fairly early on the importance of maintaining a solid credit history a

Bitcoin and the Five C's: Credit

Mechanisms that determine a credit score are often mysterious and opaque. Bitcoin can fix this.

Transparency Report from Hoseki
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KWSJmVKdUW_DKzP5CU_PPBbnJ0cvLETj/view" target="_blank" rel="follow noopener">Read the report.</a>

The Future of Digital Asset Transparency

Proof of Reserves should be a self-imposed standard. We have the tools to make ourselves more transparent. Doing so will bring us towards a more robust, discipline, and mature future.

A new report from the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) shows just how important proving custodian reserves is for the Bitcoin economy. Using features built into the Bitcoin protocol, custodians can rebuild credibility with clients, regulators, and investors in the crypto market.
Nearly all the fallout in crypto markets over the past year can be traced back to one thing: repeated failure by custodians to prove their reserves. Billions of dollars of investor capital and client funds that have been destroyed from this negligence have drawn even more scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators. But top-down changes from lawmakers aren&rsquo;t the only fix. Nor are they necessarily ones that the Bitcoin economy should hope for.
A growing number of exchanges have promised to do this after the ongoing series of custodial catastrophes in 2022, and with investor panic and regulator scrutiny both soaring, this trend can be expected to continue growing. Importantly, Hoseki is building the tools to help these businesses.
More stringent regulation may be on the horizon. But using Bitcoin as it&rsquo;s designed without relying on government pressure should be our goal. Proof of Reserves accomplishes this. Bitcoin won&rsquo;t be the future of money if we don&rsquo;t make ourselves accountable. Custodians showing Proof of Reserves is non-negotiable.
<a href="https://www.btcpolicy.org/articles/proof-of-reserves-a-report-on-mitigating-crypto-custody-risk" rel="follow">Click here</a> to read find he full Proof-of-Reserves report by BPI.

A report by the Bitcoin Policy Institute addresses fallout from insolvent crypto companies and explains why Proof of Reserves is important.

New Report Highlights Proof of Reserves Importance for Bitcoin Businesses

The emergence of Bitcoin is still a brand new phenomenon. The implications of Bitcoin simply existing has not yet been fully realized by most and certainly not yet fully appreciated by traditional finance. As adoption spreads worldwide by individuals, institutions and nation states, everyone is beginning to comprehend the ways in which Bitcoin enables the world to reimagine its relationship to money entirely.&nbsp;
Perhaps one of the most under-appreciated aspects of Bitcoin is how it fundamentally transforms a lender&rsquo;s ability to properly evaluate risk. In order to explore this claim further, it&rsquo;s necessary to first examine some of the most common ways traditional lenders currently evaluate risk. A popular lens for understanding how lenders assess the risk profile of a potential borrower is known as The Five C&rsquo;s: Credit, Capacity, Capital, Collateral and Conditions.&nbsp;
This is the first article in a series about each of these C&rsquo;s. 
To start, this article briefly defines each C and then unpacks each one later in this series.&nbsp;
<h2>CREDIT</h2>
The average American learns fairly early on the importance of maintaining a solid credit history and subsequently earning a respectable credit score. Sometimes this &ldquo;C&rdquo; is even referred to as &ldquo;Character&rdquo; which shows how critical it is to a lender&rsquo;s decision making process prior to approving a loan. Within the realm of Credit, there are several sub-factors that go into generating a credit score. This includes: length of time credit has been established, on-time payment history, amount of available credit utilized, amount of revolving credit (i.e. credit cards) compared to installment loans (i.e. mortgage or car loan).&nbsp;
<h2>CAPACITY</h2>
A borrower must demonstrate a clear ability to repay or service the new loan payment they are applying for by documenting their debt-to-income ratio. A borrower with too many existing obligations without an acceptable level of relative income, is considered higher risk to a lender.&nbsp;
<h2>CAPITAL</h2>
Ensuring a potential borrower is well capitalized is certainly in every lender&rsquo;s best interest. By requiring a loan applicant to provide proof of their cash on hand, retirement funds and other assets, the lender is provided some comfort that the new debt obligation could still be serviced, even if the capacity of a borrower is diminished.&nbsp;
<h2>COLLATERAL</h2>
One of the most tangible and actionable elements of lending is the collateral a borrower pledges as security for the loan. A home purchase utilizing a mortgage or a car purchase utilizing an auto loan are considered &ldquo;secured&rdquo; loans which are ultimately backed by the pledged collateral. This means that in the event of a default (aka non-payment), the lender can seize the collateral as recourse. Unsecured credit such as Credit Cards or Student Loans, are more risky for lenders because they lack collateral.&nbsp;
<h2>CONDITIONS</h2>
The most subjective of the five 5 C&rsquo;s is concerned with the broader purpose of the loan and underlying conditions in which the borrower is requesting financing. What is the loan amount? What will the funds be used for? How will the other C&rsquo;s be impacted by this new loan? Are there compensating factors (i.e. positive aspects of a borrower&rsquo;s financial profile which may compensate or make up for other aspects where the borrower is not as strong) that should be taken into consideration? Evaluating the conditions can also play a role in determining the rate and fee structure of the loan with higher risk loans generally being more expensive and loans that are considered to be safer receiving more favorable terms.&nbsp;
The logic behind why lenders would utilize the 5 C&rsquo;s framework is relatively self-evident on the surface. If you consider our current financial and societal realities, these are perhaps the best methods available for a lender to adequately assess risk. These have been the tried and true methods for determining which types of borrowers are most likely to pay back their loans on time and in full.&nbsp;
However, what happens to the 5 C&rsquo;s when the financial and societal paradigms begin to shift into a bitcoin standard? Do bitcoin&rsquo;s unique properties enhance underwriting strategies and offer potential lenders better tools to evaluate creditworthiness? While several bitcoin lending companies have already emerged in pursuit of securing these nascent advantages, we are still in the very early stages of realizing the true potential of how Bitcoin significantly upgrades risk-assessment.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s difficult to imagine a world where FICO scores are not the bedrock of how lenders make decisions. But just like fiat money itself, FICO is a relatively new phenomenon (created in 1956) and just like fiat money itself, its days are likely numbered. So how did everything become so reliant and entrenched in this FICO Score world? And how will this institution be impacted in a post-hyperbitcoinization world? Keep reading to dive in deeper and unpack those questions in part two of this series.&nbsp;

Extrapolating Bitcoin's utility in regards to a lender's requirements of credit, capacity, capital, collateral, and conditions.

Bitcoin and the 5 C's: An Introduction

This post is the fourth and final post in a multi-part series detailing the home buying process for bitcoin investors. The goal for each article is to provide basic information on each step of the homebuying process tailored for the bitcoin community. Read the rest of the series here:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.hoseki.app/blog/home-buying-with-bitcoin-the-pre-approval-process">Part 1: The Pre-Approval Process</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.hoseki.app/blog/home-buying-with-bitcoin-making-an-offer">Part 2: Making an Offer</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.hoseki.app/blog/home-buying-with-bitcoin-deal-terms-and-contingencies">Part 3: Deal Terms &amp; Contingencies&nbsp;</a></li>
</ul>
Welcome to the final installment of the &ldquo;Home Buying with Bitcoin&rdquo; series! Up until now, this series has covered the home buying process from Pre-approval all the way through key deal terms and contingencies. This post covers the final critical aspect of the contract: the closing date.
When a buyer and seller reach mutual acceptance on a purchase and sale agreement, there are&nbsp; two possible outcomes: the deal closes as expected, perhaps with some minor changes along the way; or something goes wrong during the due diligence process, and the parties go their separate ways. Agreeing on an official closing date is ultimately what determines the fate of any real estate transaction. As one might guess, the closing date is when the transaction becomes final and ownership officially changes hands. Depending on the jurisdiction in question, a closing date is either carried out by the help of an escrow company or, in some states, an attorney must preside over the official closing.&nbsp;
When negotiating a closing date &ndash; assuming a buyer will finance the purchase of their home &ndash; the standard duration is about 30 days from the date of mutual acceptance. Sometimes a buyer or seller may prefer a longer due diligence period and 45 or 60 days may be more appropriate. Some examples of this are if there are anticipated issues with the property which require additional inspections or if the buyer requires more time to finalize the affairs on their departing residence.&nbsp;
The speed at which a buyer is able to close can help a buyer present a more attractive offer to the seller if they have the ability to close in 10 days, for instance. This is where Bitcoin can play an important role in the evolution of how real estate transactions are carried out. Because Bitcoin has the unique ability to instantly verify a buyer has the funds needed to consummate a transaction and because Bitcoin has near instant settlement. Hoseki can help generate an asset statement for your bitcoin holdings, which is compliant with typical underwriting standards.&nbsp;
There are a variety of labels for describing the official moment a deal is consummated. In addition to the closing date, it is common to hear it referred to as the signing date (typically in attorney states) or the funding date (typically in escrow states). This can get confusing, so buyers should be sure to clarify with their realtor, lender and escrow agent / attorney what they are describing when they say &ldquo;closing date&rdquo; so the buyer knows what to expect.
The following paragraphs will describe a standard example of the milestones leading up to and after closing takes place in an Escrow State. Buyers should keep in mind that there are many additional variations and outlier scenarios not described here, but this is meant to provide a high level overview of how things are typically finalized.
Once all contingencies have been satisfied and the buyer&rsquo;s loan has been fully underwritten and approved, the deal proceeds onto its final steps before officially closing. This phase might be referred to as &ldquo;Clear to Close,&rdquo; and it&rsquo;s similar to starting the initial descent on an airplane: you haven&rsquo;t arrived yet, but it&rsquo;s time to prepare for landing. The subsequent milestones are as follows:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Loan Docs Sent to Escrow: given that the approval of the mortgage can be the biggest obstacle in a real estate transaction, a massive indication that the buyer has cleared all obstacles is when final loan documents are sent to escrow for signatures. Loan docs are often sent to escrow only a day or two before the contract&rsquo;s closing date which is not always ideal, but not alarming. In a smoother transaction with few issues, it can happen much earlier in the process which makes for a much less stressful closing for all parties. Either way, the next step is for the buyer to sign!&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Buyer Signing: this step is when the buyer reviews all of the paperwork associated with the transaction, including the specifics of the loan terms they&rsquo;ve agreed to, any seller concessions they negotiated and standard disclosures which are required by law. This section won&rsquo;t get into those here, but suffice to say, there are often over 100 pages. So, a buyer should prepare to spend 1-2 hours completing the singing process. Additionally, many documents require the presence of a Notary and the buyer typically will be expected to bring their closing funds to the singing table. An experienced lender and realtor will prepare their client in advance for these steps.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Loan Funding: after a buyer signs all of their documents, they are sent back to the lender for final review. Assuming everything checks out, no other issues arise and the lender has no outstanding conditions, the loan is now ready for funding! This is simply the process of transferring the proceeds from the mortgage from the lender to the seller. This is also the moment where the buyer&rsquo;s loan obligation is created and they begin accruing interest on their mortgage. The loan funding signals that the transaction is all but complete, but there&rsquo;s a final step before things become official.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Recording: the escrow company has now ensured that money has exchanged hands between buyer and seller, and the transaction is ready to be officially recorded at the county office of the subject property. This is the final step in the process which includes physical attestation by the county recorder that the buyer and seller have agreed and finalized the exchange of real property and the official title, which is public record, is changed in the name of the new buyer. This often happens the same day as the loan funding, but can sometimes be a day or two later. The plane has not landed until the escrow company receives confirmation from the county that title has been updated and &ldquo;recording numbers&rdquo; are provided, making the deal finally closed.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
We hope that readers and prospective home buyers found all parts of this blog series helpful. More importantly, Hoseki is eager to assist in any home buying process by providing&nbsp; the tools to verify bitcoin holdings in a way that the legacy financial world finds acceptable.&nbsp;
Additionally, as more and more options emerge for bitcoiners who are interested in using their holdings either towards the purchase of a new home or as collateral, Hoseki is developing many resources like this blog series to make the process a bit less mysterious. Feel free to reach out to the Hoseki team with any questions, and stay tuned for more blog posts to help bitcoiners demystify real estate with Hoseki.
Also join us on <a href="http://twitter.com/hosekiapp">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://t.me/hosekiapp">Telegram</a>.

Read about how bitcoin plays into the final phase of the home buying process after a buyer and seller have agreed on terms.

Home Buying with Bitcoin (Part 4): Closing

This post is the third in a multi-part series detailing the home buying process for bitcoin investors. The goal for each article is to provide basic information on each step of the homebuying process tailored for the bitcoin community.
Read the rest of the series here:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.hoseki.app/blog/home-buying-with-bitcoin-the-pre-approval-process">Part 1: The Pre-Approval Process</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.hoseki.app/blog/home-buying-with-bitcoin-making-an-offer">Part 2: Making an Offer</a></li>
</ul>

Up to this point, the &ldquo;Home Buying with Bitcoin&rdquo; series has covered the initial steps of the home buying process with an emphasis on Bitcoin investors as prospective buyers.&nbsp; Part 3 of this series explains critical deal terms that every buyer should pay attention to when instructing a realtor to write an offer. Readers should keep in mind that this is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every deal point to consider when writing an offer. Instead, this blog post is meant to help readers pay special attention to the deal terms highlighted here to better equip a home buyer with the right questions to ask and to help avoid common pitfalls.&nbsp; 
Real estate market dynamics often change very quickly. The best way to ensure a buyer maximizes their leverage and gets the best possible deal is to understand the current climate. This is where having an experienced realtor can be extremely helpful. The most obvious deal point to consider is, of course, the offer amount. How much a buyer offers can be delicate.&nbsp;
The goal of finding the right offer amount is to strike a balance between what is attractive as a buyer and what could be in the range of what is reasonable for the seller. This means offering an amount that elicits a counteroffer, ideally somewhere in between the list price and the offer amount. For example, if a home is listed for $600,000 and a buyer is willing to pay $585,000, it may make sense to start the offer at $575,000. Aggressive negotiators can become overzealous and make an initial offer too low which risks offending a seller. In the same scenario, for example, offering $525,000 may signal to the seller that the buyer is not serious and does not even warrant a counter offer. On the flip side, if a seller accepts the first offer that is likely an indication that the buyer was not aggressive enough.&nbsp;
Beyond the offer amount, which is affected by a myriad of factors, the other key deal terms are:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Earnest Money</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Appraisal, Inspection and Financing Contingencies</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Closing Date</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Loan Terms</li>
</ul>
The following sections explain the first two in order. The last two will be explained in a subsequent post.
Earnest Money: In the hopeful event that an offer is accepted, meaning a buyer and seller reach Mutual Acceptance, the earnest money serves as a type of insurance policy for the seller to hold the buyer accountable for closing the transaction. Typically the earnest money is held by a neutral third party in the transaction such as the escrow company. The standard expectation for earnest money usually hovers around 1% of the offer amount, but in a seller&rsquo;s market where multiple offers are expected, increasing the earnest money is a strategic way to make an offer more attractive. If the transaction closes as expected, the Earnest Money is returned to the buyer and everyone is happy.&nbsp; If something goes wrong during the course of the transaction, however, it becomes critical to understand the contingencies which give the seller the right to retain a buyer&rsquo;s Earnest Money if those contingencies are not met.&nbsp;
Appraisal Contingency: Mortgage lenders require an acceptable appraisal to be completed before they will extend financing on a property. The main aspect of an appraisal is the final valuation provided by the appraiser. The appraised value must be equal to or greater than the purchase price otherwise the lender will require the buyer to come up with the difference. The appraiser may also flag other aspects of the property such as an incomplete kitchen or a safety hazard which the lender requires to be remedied before extending financing for the property. The appraisal contingency protects the buyer from these scenarios and allows them to rescind the transaction without losing their earnest money. While a low appraisal can be a stressful development, it can also provide the buyer with additional leverage to renegotiate the purchase price or threaten to walk away.&nbsp;
Inspection Contingency: While the lender requires an appraisal, it is up to the buyer whether or not they want to obtain an inspection. Again, whether or not the buyer will allow for an inspection contingency depends on market conditions. But for the most part, this is a standard inclusion that all parties anticipate as a part of the transaction. The contingency is an additional layer of protection for the buyer to perform further due diligence on the property without risking the loss of their earnest money if they discover something they did not expect. For example, a property inspection may uncover water damage in the basement of a property which was not disclosed by the seller. This is once again an opportunity to renegotiate with the seller to either remedy the deficiency or compensate the buyer to perform these repairs after closing.&nbsp;
Financing Contingency: Often the most flexible trigger, the financing contingency, allows the buyer to rescind (cancel) the offer in the event their financing falls through and they do not qualify for the mortgage to obtain the property. This is important because if the loan fails for any reason, the buyer can walk away from the transaction without losing their earnest money.&nbsp;
All three of these contingencies are tied to specific deadlines that must be satisfied within the due diligence period. The buyer is required to waive these contingencies at the negotiated intervals in order to proceed with the transaction. Once all contingencies are waived, if the buyer still fails to perform and close the transaction, then the seller is entitled to keep the earnest money.&nbsp;
If the buyer successfully completes their appraisal, inspection and financing, however, it&rsquo;s time to head to the closing table and finalize the transaction which we&rsquo;ll explore in depth in the next part of the series.&nbsp;

Learn the critical deal terms that every buyer should pay attention to when instructing a realtor to write an offer.

Home Buying with Bitcoin: Deal Terms and Contingencies

Home Buying with Bitcoin (Part 3): Deal Terms and Contingencies

This post is the second in a multi-part series detailing the home buying process for bitcoin investors. The goal for each article is to provide basic information on each step of the homebuying process tailored for the bitcoin community.
Read the rest of the series here:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.hoseki.app/blog/home-buying-with-bitcoin-the-pre-approval-process" rel="follow">Part 1: The Pre-Approval Process</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.hoseki.app/blog/home-buying-with-bitcoin-deal-terms-and-contingencies" rel="follow">Part 3: Deal Terms and Contingencies</a></li>
</ul>
Once a prospective home buyer has obtained a Pre-Approval Letter (see Part 1:The Pre-Approval Process) or has been fully pre-underwritten, they are ready to make an official offer to purchase a home. This step can be the most intimidating, frustrating and at the same time, the most exhilarating part of the process. This article walks through best practices for making an offer and ways to avoid common pitfalls.&nbsp;
First, a home buyer is typically best served by working with an experienced real estate agent. It's best to obtain a few recommendations from trusted friends and family, and home buyers could even consider interviewing a couple candidates before selecting who to work with. Prospective buyers can also find a list of Bitcoin-friendly brokers in Hoseki after creating a Hoseki account. Sellers often won&rsquo;t take offers seriously if they are not submitted with the help of a qualified agent. Also, buyers in a real estate transaction are traditionally NOT responsible for paying a real estate agent&rsquo;s commission. A buyer&rsquo;s selection for their agent can make all of the difference in not only finding the right home, but also negotiating the best terms as well as understanding the nature of current market dynamics.&nbsp;
Home buyers who are interested in using their Bitcoin to help qualify for a home may be best served by ensuring their selected realtor has at least a basic understanding of how bitcoin works. However, this is not quite as important as ensuring your lender is well versed in bitcoin lending.&nbsp;
In recent years, websites like Zillow and Redfin have become incredibly empowering for prospective home buyers. Indeed, a serious buyer would be wise to do their own research using the available resources by getting a good sense for what their money can buy and regularly monitoring market conditions by setting up alerts in their price range and in the area they are interested in buying. This gives the buyer a powerful head start and allows them to act decisively when the right home hits the market.&nbsp;
The downside of these websites is that they can make buyers overly confident. When it comes time to actually make an offer on a home, buyers might attempt to write an offer on their own or work with a discount realtor who doesn&rsquo;t provide them with the expert guidance for what is likely the largest purchase of their life. This is a critical mistake that can end up being much more expensive in the long run, especially if a seller has professional representation and senses an ill-prepared buyer.&nbsp;
Proper due diligence for a buyer means not only knowing their own purchasing power by obtaining a pre-approval, but it also involves&nbsp; patiently gauging market patterns over a reasonable duration of time Buyers should ask themselves questions like:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How quickly are homes going from &ldquo;Active&rdquo; to &ldquo;Pending&rdquo;?&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How quickly after that are they closing?&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How much over or under the asking price did they sell for?&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Are sellings increasing or decreasing prices?&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Recognizing these patterns will help a buyer identify their true negotiation power and set them up for maximum success when they are ready to pull the trigger.&nbsp;
Once a home that checks all the right boxes for the prospective buyer comes on the market, their next step is to set up a tour or visit the home during an open house. This step also helps the buyer gauge how quickly the home might sell if there are other showings when they tour. Other clues can be uncovered such as how serious and motivated the seller is based on how accommodating they are to the buyer&rsquo;s request to show the home. If the buyer is still interested after the tour, and can truly envision themselves in that home, it&rsquo;s time to instruct your realtor to write an offer.&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s a lot that goes into the offer beyond just the purchase price and many aspects of the negotiation to take into consideration during this step. These concepts will be explored further in the next part of this series!

Making an offer is a key step in the home buying process. Learn about best practices for making offers and common pitfalls to avoid.

Home Buying with Bitcoin: Making an Offer

After pre-approved, making an offer is a key step in the home buying process. Learn about best practices for making offers and common pitfalls to avoid.

Home Buying with Bitcoin (Part 2): Making an Offer

This post is the first in a multi-part series detailing the home buying process for bitcoin investors. The goal for each article is to provide basic information on each step of the homebuying process tailored for the bitcoin community.
Read the rest of the series here:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.hoseki.app/blog/home-buying-with-bitcoin-making-an-offer">Part 2: Making an Offer</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.hoseki.app/blog/home-buying-with-bitcoin-deal-terms-and-contingencies" rel="follow">Part 3: Deal Terms and Contingencies</a></li>
</ul>
Buying a home starts with getting pre-approved. Home sellers, real estate agents, and even lenders want to ensure that prospective buyers are qualified before investing too much time or resources working with them&nbsp; on a desired home purchase. Pre-approval is a crucial step in the buying process that can also be daunting, stressful and confusing. This brief guide walks through the various types of pre-approval methods so new buyers who own bitcoin will know what they&rsquo;re getting into and can decide which level is best for their situation.
<h2>Level 1: Pre-Qualification</h2>
The first and simplest form of pre-approval is most often referred to as a &ldquo;pre-qualification&rdquo; (sometimes &ldquo;pre-qual&rdquo; for short). Typically this process involves the buyer providing a minimal amount of verbal information to a lender, such as annual income, estimated credit score, desired purchase price and anticipated down payment. While a pre-qual can help get a very rough idea of how much home a buyer can afford to purchase, it does not quite guarantee their approval for a mortgage, and it does not constitute a lender&rsquo;s commitment to lend. Most pre-qual&rsquo;s don&rsquo;t require a credit check or any other supporting documentation. In a <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sellersmarket.asp">seller&rsquo;s market</a>, a pre-qual is typically insufficient for submitting an offer, but they can be quickly and easily completed if a potential buyer is just trying to get an idea of their price range even if they&rsquo;re not quite ready to go through a more involved process.
<h2>Level 2: Pre-Approval Letter</h2>
The most common method for becoming officially pre-approved by a lender involves obtaining a standard Pre-Approval Letter (PAL). Unlike a pre-qualification, in order to receive an official PAL from a lender, a buyer will have their credit checked and complete a full mortgage application (a.k.a., the <a href="https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/delivering/uniform-mortgage-data-program/uniform-residential-loan-application">1003</a>). Over the years, pre-approvals have become more sophisticated, and buyers with a straightforward financial profile (i.e. W-2 employment, solid credit, low debt) can often receive an automated PAL without even having to speak with a loan officer. However, if an automated pre-approval isn&rsquo;t available, there's no need to panic. With respect to the application, be warned: the smallest errors or missing information discovered in a financial profile may require additional review before approval is granted. In a stable real estate market, a PAL is typically acceptable for submitting an offer.&nbsp;
<h2>Level 3: Pre-Underwritten</h2>
A full pre-underwrite is an emerging method of pre-approving a buyer for a mortgage. This is the most involved of the three mentioned in this article, and it requires an interested buyer to not only submit an application and run a credit check. It also requires them to submit all supporting documentation. Buyers who are including their Bitcoin holdings as a part of the mortgage application&rsquo;s asset section, Hoseki can help by generating a consolidated statement that is compliant with standard underwriting requirements. A full pre-underwrite provides all parties, including the buyer, with the assurance that the desired loan will be fulfilled as requested. Submitting a fully pre-underwritten approval letter, which typically constitutes a lender's written commitment, is a great way to put the buyer&rsquo;s best foot forward and make the offer as strong as possible against competitive offers.&nbsp;
Including Bitcoin holdings is a great way to bolster a buyer&rsquo;s overall financial profile and help get approved for a mortgage! Whether a buyer is seeking&nbsp; a pre-qual or they&rsquo;re ready to get fully pre-underwritten, Hoseki empowers bitcoin-owning home buyers to list their Bitcoin assets on a mortgage application with confidence in documenting proof of these assets.&nbsp;
Choosing the right path as a prospective buyer depends on a variety of factors including: the strength of their overall financial profile; where a buyer stands in the home buying process; and how competitive the real estate market is at the time the buyer is looking The higher the level, the more involved the process, which means expect Level 3 to take days (sometimes weeks!), while Level 1 can take minutes. Regardless of which method a buyer selects, obtaining a bonafide pre-approval is the very first step for any prospective home buyer.&nbsp;
Learn more about how to get started with one of our approved Hoseki Partners by visiting <a href="https://www.hoseki.app/">hoseki.app</a> or contact us with any questions on&nbsp; next steps!

Buying a home with bitcoin starts with pre-approval. Learn about types of pre-approval and how bitcoin investors can navigate the process!

Home Buying with Bitcoin: The Pre-Approval Process

Buying a home starts with getting pre-approved. Learn about various types of pre-approval methods and how bitcoin investors can navigate each part of the process.

Home Buying with Bitcoin (Part 1): The Pre-Approval Process

<h2>de Soto Dreams of Electric Money</h2>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Countries in the Global South are not poor because of culture, collective IQ, a lack of entrepreneurial spirit, or market orientation; they are poor because they lack formal frameworks around property rights. Hernando de Soto discusses these topics at length in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Capital-Capitalism-Triumphs-Everywhere/dp/0465016154"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mystery of Capital</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The ability to formalize and express ownership of property is at the foundation of capital and wealth generation. And if you think it has anything to do with culture, try (as de Soto puts it) jumping into a taxi in Addis Ababa or walk through a bazaar in Tehran or hustle your way to the Golden Temple in Amritsar without having someone try and strike up a deal with you. The notion that the people in these regions lack the creativity and the &ldquo;right&rdquo; culture to generate wealth is inhumane, absurd, and entirely unconvincing. When you walk out the door of the Hilton Lima, you&rsquo;re not leaving behind the wonderful world of mobile tech, antibiotics, internet, and refrigeration. The people of Peru have all of those things. What you&rsquo;re leaving behind is the magical world of legally enforceable transactions on property rights.
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The unfortunate reality that exacerbates the condition of the people in these countries is that they are actually quite rich in their assets. The problem is that the assets in these regions are locked. Their citizens are unable to represent them and they are unable to live the same invisible parallel lives as in the Global North. These assets are, in effect, stranded.
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the Global North, you can pledge your home for a loan, you can use credit ratings to get access to loans, you can hold stock in a company through legally enforceable contracts, enjoy limited liability and insurance policies, leverage property records that fix, and store capital, all of which can be passed down to your heirs through hereditary succession. You can do all of these magical things in a world where the records of property you hold bestow upon you (the titleholder) and everyone else around you (other participants in the market) access to rights to general capital.&nbsp;
<h2>Bitcoin is a Third World Country</h2>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Countries in the Global South don&rsquo;t have these frameworks and neither does Bitcoin. Bitcoin suffers from much of the same malaise that inflicts contemporary third-world countries such as massive migrations, explosions of extralegal activity, political and civil unrest, and general discontent with an antiquated system. Our migrations are digital, our extralegal activity is dictated by the country we live in, political and civil unrests have a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blocksize-War-controls-Bitcoins-protocol/dp/B08YQMC2WM"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">storied history</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that show no signs of abating, and the antiquated system we are discontent with is maintained by a kleptocratic class of elites that expresses no accountability for those who enforce it.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The America of old (the America we love) itself used to be a Third World country that was &ldquo;trying to cope with the law and disorder of migrants, squatters, gold diggers, armed gangs, illegal entrepreneurs, and the rest of the colorful characters who made the settling of the American West so wild and, if only in hindsight, so romantic<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.&rdquo; Like early American colonists, the prevailing system of English common law did not work. It didn&rsquo;t take into account new forms of property access absent an established and generally accept titling system. This was specifically a problem when it came to cases involving dubious title. Property in England was so well formalized, demarcated and understood that there was no framework to handle newly found or established property. The sheer abundance of land in British North America presented the first settlers with opportunities unfathomable back home in Europe&ndash;both in the collective psyche of the people and the law. Colonists ultimately formed their own rules that varied greatly by jurisdiction that expanded on the principles of English common law. This form of self-governance often clashed with the authorities. But as Peter Charles Hoffer emphasizes: &ldquo;In theory they were part of the king&rsquo;s personal domain [and subject to his laws], but fact preempts theory. Far from England, thinly populated, rich in natural resources, and occupied by men and women who knew their own minds and grasped a bargain when they saw it, the colonies edged towards self-government.<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&rdquo; Ultimately, Western nations came to acknowledge social contracts born outside the official law as legitimate sources of law, making the law a tool that served popular capital formation and economic growth.
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bitcoin is at a similar point to where America was post-founding, and at the same point where Third-World countries are today.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bitcoin brings Hernando de Soto&rsquo;s dream to its ASIC-powered reality. Bitcoin is unique in that it natively enforces its own property rights without a <a href="https://medium.com/@hasufly/bitcoin-and-the-promise-of-independent-property-rights-8f10e5c7efa8"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">monopoly on violence</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that enforces most other assets. Bitcoin is also jurisdiction-less in that it is supra-human, its jurisdiction is cyber-space, and it is not bound to the imagined boundaries that make up meat-space. What do you get when you have a jurisdiction-ess asset, that enforces its own property rights irrespective of color, creed, country, language, sex, or vaccination status? You get a new world.
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That is what we see at Hoseki. We, like a lot of our friends,&ndash;most likely including the reader&ndash;see a new world where the best money wins. We are tired of the vapid, soulless, and amoral systems of money that pervade and dictate our current lives. Human potential is limitless, and to limit it with monetary discretion and central planning is on the level of psychotic ;), if not genocidal. Bitcoin gives us a sound foundation to build on that avoids the pitfalls of systems of the past. It is through this foundation that we can generate sound capital. Unlike the current system which emboldens rampant debt, anesthetizes itself through bail-outs for those closest to the system, and sadistically brutalizes those on the fringes&ndash;Bitcoin offers something more. Bitcoin rewards good behavior, it rewards low-time preference, high savings, planning, and responsibility. Without strong incentives to exploit, we are embraced by a moralistic future with support beams built and maintained by a global collective, not a cabal of regional insiders. It offers a world that promotes saving for your future self and family, one that will connect you with your locality and allow you, your family, and your community to plan for generations. Bitcoin promotes human potential through its emotion-less enforcement of consensus-based rules that give us predictability, and by extension, reliability.
<h2>Hoseki Fixes This</h2>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bitcoin has property rights built-in. Much like services offered by brilliant Bitcoin companies today that wrap functionality that Bitcoin, itself, natively offers&ndash;namely <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Multi-signature#:~:text=Multi%2Dsignature%20(multisig)%20refers,of%20bitcoins%20among%20multiple%20people."><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">multi-signature</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> custody regimes, Hoseki is also wrapping something that Bitcoin natively offers. After multi-sig, <a href="https://digitalchamber.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Proof-of-Reserves-.pdf"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">signature verification</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> seems to be one of the most underrated functions that the Bitcoin protocol provides. We, at Hoseki, are taking the torch and expanding this core functionality. We want retail users to know that Bitcoin not only empowers you to be your own financial institution by taking custody of your own property, but it also allows you to express ownership over that property. A framework around expressing ownership of property is the foundational building block for robust property rights. It is also a way to unlock all of the capital that is currently captured in your stranded assets.
<a href="https://www.hoseki.app/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hoseki</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is financial plumbing to seamlessly and privately express ownership of Bitcoin to another counterparty. Proving ownership of an asset is a basic characteristic of any asset class be it stocks, bonds, cash in your account, or real estate. And much like our brethren in Peru, Egypt, Burma, and Ethiopia, whose physical property is stranded, we are faced with a similar reality where our digital property, our Bitcoin, is stranded. Bitcoin is siloed off into exchanges, mobile wallets, and hardware wallets. People hold Bitcoin in different ways and in different places, and because of that, expressing ownership has become a challenge. There is no easy way for a broker, lender, or underwriter to assess and verify your assets when you are trying to get a loan. You have the assets, they are quite valuable, yet you can&rsquo;t get any service. You&rsquo;re not expected to move or sell your stock holdings to fund your home purchase, yet, that stipulation exists when attempting to use Bitcoin. This is particularly frustrating because you are holding the most pristine asset in existence; but much like property on the American frontier that hadn&rsquo;t yet been formalized, Bitcoin is missing a formal framework around expressing its natively enforceable property rights.&nbsp;
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today you are shackled. Tomorrow you will be liberated. Hoseki is building a system that allows you to manifest the full potential of your Bitcoin. It allows the world to benefit from Bitcoin, and it seeks to act as a bridge between the old world and the new as we shift to a global monetary regime run on a Bitcoin standard.<a href="https://twitter.com/samabbassi"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></a>

Bitcoin’s enforceable signature verification creates new possibilities for seamlessly and privately expressing ownership of bitcoin to another counterparty.

Bitcoin is a New World Country

<ul>
<li>Hoseki raises seed funding from Stillmark and other prominent bitcoin venture investors.</li>
<li>CEO&nbsp;Sam Abbassi&nbsp;plans rapid infrastructure development and hiring strategy.</li>
<li>The public launch of Hoseki's product, supported by over 50 partners, is set for later this year.</li>
</ul>
Hoseki, the world's first proof-of-assets service for bitcoin investors, announced today the close of its seed investment led by Stillmark. Additional investors in the round include Ten31, Castle Island Ventures, and Avon Ventures, a venture fund affiliated with FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments. Hoseki previously raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from Castle Island Ventures.
"Hoseki provides a service that will enable unprecedented utility for funds, companies, and retail investors within the bitcoin economy by providing easy proof of ownership experiences to anyone that holds bitcoin. We are excited for this next step in accomplishing our company's mission," said&nbsp;Sam Abbassi, founder and CEO of Hoseki. "The support of such prominent bitcoin investors is a testament to the importance of the product our team is building."
Hoseki intends to rapidly accelerate the development of its technology and product infrastructure in response to market demand for digital asset attestation services. Hoseki will also maintain an aggressive company-wide hiring strategy, specifically for engineering and design roles.
Consumer interest in bitcoin-backed loans &ndash; particularly mortgage loans &ndash; remains strong in 2022, and Hoseki plans to capture this momentum by targeting prospective home buyers when the Hoseki application launches later this year. Founded in 2021, Hoseki has worked in stealth to build the Bitcoin industry's first digital asset attestation service. Already, Hoseki has secured more than 50 partnerships with traditional lenders and mortgage brokers that will accept proof-of-assets documentation from Hoseki. Industry-leading bitcoin security and financial services firms including Ledn and Casa have also entered partnerships with Hoseki.
"Hoseki is unlocking an entirely new way for bitcoin investors to participate in the bitcoin economy where ownership does not exclude utility," said&nbsp;Alyse Killeen, founder and managing partner at Stillmark. "The Hoseki team understands that bitcoin is the world's most pristine form of collateral, and we are thrilled to support their vision of providing digital asset ownership documentation to millions of bitcoin holders around the globe."
"Lenders and brokers are just beginning to understand the value of bitcoin-backed loans and they are increasingly eager to explore the larger role this asset will play in global financial markets," said&nbsp;Nic Carter, founding partner at Castle Island Ventures. "We are proud to have supported Hoseki from the start, and we believe they are extremely well positioned to capture and cement a leadership position in this pivotal facet of the bitcoin economy."
Hoseki plans to launch a private alpha version of its product to a small group of users later this summer with a public beta phase scheduled for early Q3 2022. Bitcoin investors who want to join the Hoseki bitcoin proof of assets alpha testing period can visit&nbsp;<a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3537275-1&amp;h=2910885191&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fhoseki.app%2F&amp;a=hoseki.app" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">hoseki.app</a>&nbsp;to register for early access.

Hoseki raises seed funding from Stillmark and other prominent bitcoin investors to build a proof of assets service.

Hoseki Announces Seed Funding from Stillmark

Hoseki closed its seed investment led by Stillmark. Additional investors in the round include Ten31, Castle Island Ventures, and Avon Ventures.

Hoseki Announces Seed Funding from Stillmark for Bitcoin Proof of Assets Service

<ul>
<li>Hoseki integrates Casa's new API product for easy proof of assets documentation.</li>
<li>Casa clients can document and prove their assets with Hoseki.</li>
<li>Hoseki's public launch is scheduled for early Q3 2022.</li>
</ul>
Hoseki, the world's first bitcoin-native proof of assets service, is thrilled to announce its pre-launch relationship with Casa, the bitcoin security and personal key management experts. Together the two teams will work to refine the Casa API integrated into the Hoseki app to provide the bitcoin industry's most advanced proof of assets documentation service for bitcoin investors, similar to proof of reserves for cryptocurrency custodians.
Casa's integration with Hoseki will give the bitcoin security company's clients a seamless way to prove ownership of funds protected by a Casa security plan. In the Hoseki dashboard, Casa clients can import account details into their protected Hoseki dashboard where their other hardware wallets and exchange accounts are also managed for easy generation of documents to originate a loan or simply verify control of their holdings. Hoseki is one of the first teams to test the newly launched Casa API, providing feedback to Casa on the product before its launch.
Founded in 2021, Hoseki has worked in stealth to build the Bitcoin industry's first digital asset attestation service. While preparing for its alpha product launch later this summer, Hoseki is partnering and integrating with leading Bitcoin security and financial services firms to streamline asset ownership documentation services.
"We love seeing the Bitcoin ecosystem grow and we are incredibly excited to partner with a company that shares our vision for the future," said&nbsp;Nick Neumann, CEO of Casa. "Hoseki will be instrumental in collaborating with and refining our new API product. We look forward to working closely with them to build critical infrastructure for the Bitcoin economy."
"The entire Hoseki team is beyond excited to integrate Casa's new tools so our users can organize, document and prove ownership over their assets," said&nbsp;Sam Abbassi, CEO of Hoseki. "Hoseki's proof of assets documentation will be essential for bitcoin storage and security services like Casa to enable their clients to put their assets to work as the bitcoin economy continues to grow and mature."
Hoseki plans to launch a private alpha version of its product with the Casa integration to a small group of users later this summer with a public launch scheduled for early Q3 2022. Bitcoin investors interested in testing the Hoseki alpha product can visit&nbsp;<a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3529800-1&amp;h=3765450948&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fhoseki.app%2F&amp;a=hoseki.app" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">hoseki.app</a>&nbsp;to get early access.

Hoseki integrates Casa's new API product to offer easy proof of assets documentation for multisignature wallets.

Hoseki Announces Proof of Assets Integration With Casa

Hoseki integrates Casa's new API product for easy proof of assets documentation.
Casa clients can document and prove their assets with Hoseki.
Hoseki's public launch is scheduled for early Q3 2022.

<ul>
<li>Hoseki team up with bitcoin lending firm Ledn for easy proof of asset documentation. </li>
<li>Hoseki&rsquo;s public launch is scheduled for early Q3 2022.</li>
</ul>
Hoseki, the world&rsquo;s first bitcoin-native asset attestation service, is thrilled to announce its pre-launch relationship with Ledn, the global bitcoin credit and savings firm with clients in 127 countries. The two teams will provide the bitcoin industry&rsquo;s most advanced lending and proof of assets services for retail bitcoin investors, similar to proof of reserves for custodians.
Hoseki started in 2021 with the singular mission of providing digital asset attestation services to bitcoin investors. Hoseki is preparing its alpha product launch for summer 2022. Ahead of the launch, traditional financial service providers and some of the Bitcoin industry&rsquo;s leading financial startups, including Ledn, have approached Hoseki to use its asset ownership documentation.
Ledn&rsquo;s collaboration with Hoseki comes less than four months after the Canada-based lending firm secured $70 million in a Series B funding raise. Assets on the Ledn platform have exceeded $1.7 billion, and the company&rsquo;s new Bitcoin Mortgage product has generated over $2 billion worth of interest.
Hoseki users can seamlessly submit standardized proof of asset documentation to Ledn through the Hoseki dashboard where users manage their hardware wallet and exchange account information. In the Hoseki app, a lenders tab will educate prospective borrowers on steps to proving asset ownership and originate a bitcoin-backed loan through Ledn.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re thrilled to collaborate with the Hoseki team as they build a crucial piece of financial infrastructure for the bitcoin economy,&rdquo; said Adam Reeds, CEO of Ledn. &ldquo;Easy and standardized asset ownership documentation for all bitcoin investors can accelerate the volume of loan originations and broader maturity of the digital asset market by leaps and bounds.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The Ledn team built a world-class financial services firm for the bitcoin economy. Our entire team is excited to name them as our first lending integration for building bitcoin-native financial plumbing,&rdquo; said Sam Abbassi, CEO of Hoseki. &ldquo;Hoseki&rsquo;s proof of asset documentation will be essential for borrowers to work with teams like Ledn as the bitcoin economy continues to grow and mature.&rdquo;
Hoseki plans to launch a private alpha version of its product with the Ledn integration to a small group of users this summer 2022 with a public launch scheduled for Q3 2022. Bitcoin investors interested in testing the Hoseki alpha product can visit <a href="http://hoseki.app/">hoseki.app</a> to get early access.

Hoseki is thrilled to announce its pre-launch relationship with Ledn, the global bitcoin financial firm with clients in 127 countries.

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