Category: Digital Currency

AI Tools, Artificial Intelligence, Banking, Blockchains, Digital Currency, real estate, tokenization, Uncategorized, Yogi Nelson

🏢 A Step-by-Step Guide to Tokenized Commercial Real Estate

Yogi Nelson

Welcome to the BlockchainAIForum where your technology questions are answered. Commercial real estate has always been seen as a solid investment, but it often feels out of reach for the average person. High costs, complex deals, and limited access keep many investors on the sidelines. Tokenization is changing that. By turning ownership stakes into digital tokens on a blockchain, it is opening commercial real estate to a wider group of investors. But what does that actually mean? Let’s break it down step by step.

💡 What Is Tokenized Commercial Real Estate?

In simple terms, tokenized commercial real estate is when ownership in a property—like an office building, shopping center, or apartment complex—is divided into digital “tokens” recorded on a blockchain. Each token represents a share of ownership. This allows people to buy, sell, and trade fractional pieces of expensive real estate much more easily than before.

Imagine splitting a $10 million building into 10,000 tokens. Instead of needing millions to invest, you could buy a single token for $1,000. It’s like owning a slice of the property.

🌍 Why Do People Care About It?

Tokenization is seen as an important innovation for several reasons:

  • Accessibility: More people can invest in high-value commercial properties.
  • Liquidity: Tokens can potentially be traded on secondary markets, making it easier to sell.
  • Transparency: Blockchain records transactions securely and publicly.
  • Efficiency: Smart contracts can automate processes, reducing paperwork and costs.

In short, tokenization promises to make commercial real estate investment more democratic and streamlined.

🛠️ How Does Tokenized Commercial Real Estate Work? Step by Step

Let’s walk through a typical process for tokenizing a commercial property.

1️⃣ Identify and Value the Property

First, a property owner or real estate company decides which property they want to tokenize. They conduct a professional valuation to determine its market worth. For example, suppose they pick a shopping center valued at $10 million.

2️⃣ Structure the Ownership

Next, they set up the legal structure. This is crucial. Usually, the property is placed in a legal entity, such as a limited liability company (LLC) or a trust. Investors don’t directly own the building but own shares in the entity that owns it. This makes it possible to divide ownership cleanly into tokens.

3️⃣ Create the Tokens

Once the legal groundwork is in place, the ownership is split into digital tokens on a blockchain. If the shopping center is split into 10,000 tokens, each token represents 0.01% of the total ownership.

This step requires working with a blockchain platform that supports token creation. The tokens are coded with rules about how they can be traded and who can hold them, ensuring compliance with regulations.

4️⃣ Offer the Tokens to Investors

The next step is to sell the tokens. This might happen through a direct sale on the issuer’s website or through a digital platform specializing in real estate tokens. Investors buy tokens using traditional currency or sometimes cryptocurrency.

In many jurisdictions, these offerings must comply with securities laws, so they may be limited to accredited investors or follow specific regulations.

5️⃣ Manage the Property and Distribute Income

After the sale, the property is managed like any other commercial investment. Rent is collected, expenses are paid, and profits are distributed. Income—such as rental profits—can be divided among token holders proportionally.

Thanks to blockchain technology, these payments can even be automated via smart contracts, which execute payments once certain conditions are met.

6️⃣ Trade or Sell the Tokens

One of the most appealing aspects of tokenization is the potential for liquidity. Instead of holding a property for 5–10 years before selling, investors might trade tokens on approved secondary markets. This gives them flexibility to exit earlier if needed.

🚀 Why Is This Considered Important?

Tokenized commercial real estate isn’t just a new technology gimmick. It could transform the industry by:

  • Lowering barriers to entry for smaller investors.
  • Enabling global participation in local real estate markets.
  • Making real estate investments more flexible and tradable.
  • Reducing reliance on expensive intermediaries.

While it is still early days, and there are regulatory and technical challenges to solve, many see tokenization as a way to modernize a traditionally slow, opaque, and exclusive industry.

✅ Final Thoughts

Tokenized commercial real estate aims to make property investment more accessible, transparent, and efficient. By turning buildings into tradable digital tokens, it offers a new way for people to invest in—and benefit from—the commercial real estate market. As technology and regulations evolve, it could reshape how we think about owning and investing in property for years to come. It is a fantastic innovation!

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson

AI Agents, AI Tools, Artificial Intelligence, Banking, Blockchains, cryptography, Decentralized, Digital Currency, international aid, International Finance, Productivity, Science, Uncategorized, Yogi Nelson

The Advantages of Stablecoins for Sending Remittances and International Payments

Yogi Nelson

🌍💸

By Yogi Nelson

Welcome to the BlockchainAIForum where your technology questions are answered. Today we answer the following question: What are the advantages of stablecoins to transmit remittances and international payments?

Sending money across borders has long been expensive, slow, and sometimes unreliable. Millions of families around the world rely on remittances—money sent home by people working abroad. Traditional methods often take days to arrive and cost a big chunk of the amount sent in fees.

Enter stablecoins: a type of cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to a traditional currency like the U.S. dollar. While “crypto” might sound complicated or risky, stablecoins have clear advantages for cross-border payments—especially for everyday people who just want to get money to loved ones quickly and cheaply. Below, let’s explore what makes stablecoins such a game-changer for international payments.

🕰️ 1️⃣ Faster Transfers

Traditional money transfers often rely on banks and money transfer operators. These institutions use old payment networks that involve multiple middlemen. It can take 2–5 business days for the money to arrive. I can speak from personal experience–too slow in today’s world.

✅ With stablecoins:

  • Transfers are nearly instant or settle in minutes.
  • Blockchain networks operate 24/7, including weekends and holidays.

Example: Sending USDC (a popular U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin) from the U.S. to someone in Panama can take under 10 minutes, compared to days via bank wires.

💰 2️⃣ Lower Fees

Sending money internationally is notoriously expensive. According to the World Bank, the average remittance fee is around 6% globally—and even higher in some regions. Banco Popular charged me $100 to send $5,000 to Panama. Way too expensive!

✅ Stablecoins reduce fees because:

  • No need for multiple banks to process the payment.
  • No foreign exchange markup if both sender and receiver use the same stablecoin (e.g., USDC, USDT).

Example:

  • $100 sent via Western Union might cost $6–10 in fees.
  • $100 sent as a stablecoin can cost under $1 in network fees, depending on the blockchain used.

🌐 3️⃣ Global Accessibility

Many people in developing countries do not have bank accounts. But they often have smartphones. Stablecoins can be sent, received, and stored on mobile wallets, without the need for a traditional bank.

✅ Key benefits:

  • Financial inclusion for the unbanked or underbanked.
  • Access to USD-equivalent value without needing a dollar bank account.

Example: A worker in the U.S. can send USDC to a family member in El Salvador who holds it in a smartphone wallet, without needing local bank infrastructure.

💵 4️⃣ Protection Against Local Currency Volatility

In some countries, local currencies lose value quickly due to inflation. Receiving money in local currency may mean losing purchasing power almost immediately.

✅ Stablecoins help by:

  • Being pegged to stable currencies like USD.
  • Preserving value across borders and over time.

Example: A family in Argentina might prefer to receive USDC instead of pesos, protecting their remittance from inflation.

🔐 5️⃣ Transparency and Security

Stablecoin transactions are recorded on blockchains, which are public, auditable ledgers. This adds an extra layer of security and transparency.

✅ Advantages:

  • Sender and receiver can track the transfer in real-time.
  • Less risk of funds being lost in transit.
  • Resistant to censorship and freezes compared to some traditional systems.

⚡️ How Does It Work in Practice?

Here’s a simplified step-by-step:

  1. Sender buys stablecoins on an exchange or app.
  2. Sender transfers stablecoins to the recipient’s wallet address.
  3. Recipient receives them instantly or in minutes.
  4. Recipient can hold them, spend them where accepted, or convert to local currency.

This simple flow cuts out middlemen and delays.

🌟 Conclusion: A Better Way to Send Money

Stablecoins are not just a trend. They offer real, practical benefits for millions who rely on international payments:

  • ✅ Faster delivery times.
  • ✅ Lower costs.
  • ✅ Greater accessibility.
  • ✅ Protection from inflation.
  • ✅ Transparent and secure transactions.

Of course, challenges remain, like educating users, ensuring good regulation, and making stablecoins easy to cash out locally. But as adoption grows, these hurdles are being addressed.

For many families, stablecoins are already changing the way money crosses borders, making remittances fairer and more efficient.

💬 My closing thought comes from Ethiopia where they say: “a fool is thirsty in the midst of water.” If you have thoughts or questions about stablecoins and remittances, drop them in the comments below!

Until Next time,

Yogi Nelson

Artificial Intelligence, Blockchains, cryptography, Digital Currency, international aid, International Finance, Uncategorized, Yogi Nelson

Understanding Blockchain Adoption in Uzbekistan

Yogi Nelson

Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your technology questions are answered!  Today’s question: are blockchain and crypto currency adoption all the rage in Uzbekistan?

Seventeen years.  Yes, only 17 years.  In just 17 years, blockchain based projects, including bitcoin, starting from nothing, and all the while battling powerful incumbents, have spread far, wide, and fast to reach places, and spaces, that are distant and unfamiliar to most Westerns.  Today, I’ll highlight just one example of this phenomenon, the nation of Uzbekistan.  Let’s start with the obvious—where is Uzbekistan?

Uzbekistan is located in Central Asia.  Along with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, they were all former USSR republics.  Uzbekistan was part of the ancient silk road–a trade networks that connected China with Western Europe.  Although the silk road occurred more than half a millennia ago, Uzbekistan remains connected to the broader world, this time via blockchain and crypto-currency.  Let’s jump five centuries to the 21st.

Setting the Regulatory Stage: The National Agency of Perspective Projects, (NAPP) is the government body that regulates and licenses crypto in Uzbekistan.  In 2022, Uzbek President, Shavkaat Mirziyoyev, ordered NAPP to develop crypto regulations.  NAPP listened and took action.  By early 2023, crypto regulations were in place; by year’s end the first crypto license was issued!  Impressive.  Hold on, the news gets better.  Earlier this year, NAPP authorized Biance, the world’s largest crypto currency exchange, to offer services in Uzbekistan.  Customers are now able to deposit and withdraw funds in the national currency, the Soum, and conduct a wide range of transactions.  More on that in a moment.

What Happened After Crypto Regulations Were Adopted: Since adoption of clear and reasonable crypto regulations, development and usage of crypto in Uzbekistan has skyrocketed.  According to Coin Geek, a journal dedicated to the crypto world, Uzbekistan lacked behind its four Central Asian neighbors prior to 2022.  Not anymore.  Now it’s a leader.  As of this date, there are 15 licensed firms in Uzbekistan and total transactions surpassed $1B in 2024.  Awesome. Moreover, over 500,000 Uzbeks have digital assets—about 2% of the population.  The Uzbek government collected over $3M in fees and revenues in 2024.  This year the government announced an increase in crypto related fees.  What a surprise!  Lol.

Why Crypto Surged—3 Reasons:  Did a crypto friendly government policy trigger the crypto tsunami?  In part, yes.  When Uzbekistan created clear and stable regulations there was a favorable market reaction.  However, government regulations did not create demand; a market for these assets and products existed a-priori.  Crypto in Uzbekistan, and in every nation, is a counter narrative to the existing status quo and a solution to market demand. I’ll give you three specific reasons for the flood of crypto in Uzbekistan, starting with seamless cross-border transactions.

Uzbekistan has a long history of cross-border finance transactions, going all the way back to the silk road, as previously noted.  United Nations data reveals that in 2024, $14B worth of remittances occurred in Uzbekistan.  Stable-coins facilitate fast, easy, and affordable cross border transactions, hence the demand for crypto. 

Reason two is inflation.  Inflation in Uzbekistan ran at 10% in 2024.  Inflation is effectively a “hidden tax” because it erodes purchasing power of middle/lower-income families.  Almost all stable coins are denominated in U.S. dollars. Therefore, although the has been inflation in the US, it is nowhere near 10%, hence that makes dollar based stable coins a hedge against currency inflation. 

Third reason is speculation, plain and simple.  An honest analysis must acknowledge reality—many crypto projects amount to gambling and speculation.  Not a judgement; just an honest assessment.  Apparently folks in Uzbekistan like risk and freedom to choose.   

Time to end with a proverb from Uzbekistan, where they say: “it is not the eyes that are blind, but the heart”.

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson

AI Agents, Artificial Intelligence, Banking, cryptography, DARPA, Digital Currency, International Finance, Uncategorized, Yogi Nelson

How DARPA Battles Global Money Laundering with AI

Yogi Nelson

Namaste Yogis.   Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your technology questions are answered!   As a bonus, a proverb is also included.  Today’s question, comes from Kirk in Chicago and he wants to know if the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)is fighting global money laundering?

WHAT IS DARPA

Kirk, you came to the right place.  Yes, DoD is fighting global money laundering.  However, not with tanks and rifles, missiles, etc. as you might expect from a military organization.  Nope, the DoD says it has enlisted in the battle using advanced technology, including artificial intelligence!  I’ll explain shortly what this is all about but first let’s take a moment to understand what office within the DoD will lead the effort.  It’s a fascinating agency with a stellar record of accomplishments; its acronym is DARPA.  The formal name is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.  If you like the internet, GPS, stealth technology, and autonomous systems you can thank DARPA as it was the driving force behind all of those innovations, plus numerous others, and perhaps even more that have been kept secret from the public as a matter of national security.  Generally, DARPA is known as the office with DoD responsible for developing technologies for military use.  Why DARPA is involved in global money laundering begs the question as opposed to leaving the job to the the U.S. Treasury?  But for now, let’s put that aside and examine the recent DARPA announcement regarding anti-money laundering.

DARPA ANTI-MONEY INITIATIVE ANNOUCEMENT

According to a January 23rd, announcement by DARPA, it (DARPA) wants to eliminate global money laundering by replacing the current manual, reactive, and expensive analytic practices with agile, algorithmic methods.  Good idea, but isn’t that the job of the U.S. Treasury and if it is why would DARPA be involved?  In other words, what is the nexus between money laundering and DARPA’s mission?  Well, the answer given by DARPA is “… U.S. adversaries launder billions of U.S. dollars yearly and half of North Korea’s nuclear program is backed by laundered funds.  Money laundering finances our adversaries’ weapons programs, global terrorism, and the illicit drug trade, all of which threaten U.S. national security”.  A stretch but okayyyyy…

WHAT PROBLEMS DOES DARPA INTEND TO SOLVE

DARPA is facing two challenges not one.  The first is the global money laundering issue.  Essentially, DARPA states that money laundering schemes often evade detection and disruption, because anti-money laundering (AML) efforts today rely on manual analysis of large amounts of data and are limited by finite resources and human cognitive processing speed.  The second problem requires the reader to read between the lines.  What is it?  Essentially, the financial industry writ large and the U.S. Treasury have been unable or unwilling to invest in the technology to combat the problem, hence DARPA will step in because the illicit funds are not just a finance issue—they are a national security concern. What is the DARPA solution?

DARPA SOLUTION—APPLICATION OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

In their announcement, DARPA says it seeks new technological ideas that “… preserve privacy while setting a course to end to our adversaries’ financial warfare”.  The goal is to develop rapid graph-search algorithms to sift through financial transactions graphs for suspicious patterns and learn new patterns to anticipate future activities. Program success will depend on algorithms’ ability to learn a precise representation of how bad actors move money around the world without sharing sensitive data.”  A tall order indeed.  When it comes to moving illicit money around the world they may want to read the Panama Papers as a manual. 

DARPA envisions creating technologies that identify patterns of illicit financial behavior in a concise, machine-readable format that are also easily understood by human analysts.  Resulting algorithms would be able to search financial databases that matches patterns of illicit behavior, alerting to the likely presence of money laundering without directly sharing sensitive financial data.  DARPA does acknowledge that developing technology that enables information exchange while safeguarding Americans’ privacy will be a challenge. What an understatement! 

Companies interested in submitting bids should attend the DARPA bidders conference on February 20, 2025 in Arlington, VA. https://sam.gov/opp/22562059531b4979814b8b9fcd03e3ec/view.

Time to go but first a proverb from Mongolia: “… if the source is muddy, the end will be muddy too.”

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson

AI Agents, Artificial Intelligence, Banking, Blockchains, computer vision, cryptography, Digital Currency, Uncategorized, Yogi Nelson

AI Agents Explained: Earning Money in the Digital Age

Yogi Nelson

Namaste Yogis.   Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your technology questions are answered!   Here no question is too mundane.  As a bonus, a proverb is also included.  Today’s question was submitted by Arcardio, in Puerto Rico, and he wants to know if AI agents are engaged in business and making money?

Arcardio, you came to the right place.  The answer is yes–AI agents are busy working for their owners and making cash!  I’ll explain that mind bending fact, but first what is an AI agent?

WHAT IS AN AI AGENT

An AI agent is an entity or system than can perceive its environment, process information, and take actions to achieve specific goals.  It is capable of autonomously performing tasks on behalf of a user or another system by designing its workflow and utilizing available tools.”  It operates autonomously, using sensors or inputs to gather data, and employs reasoning, decision-making, and sometimes learning capabilities to determine the best course of action.

HOW DO AI AGENTS WORK

To understand how AI agents work, I turned to Kalaidos University, Switzerland.  Kalaidos U says AI agents build on top of existing algorithms, in particular large language models (LLMs), e.g., ChatGPT4. Essentially, AI agents use machine learning algorithms to derive patterns, rules or models from the collected data. Based on this, AI agents can make decisions or perform tasks. As robots they interact with their physical environment, or virtually as computer programs.  Moreover, AI agents can adapt to changing conditions and therefore continuously improve.

Let’s take the example of a well-known AI agent—ChatGPT.  ChatGPT is intelligent enough to use a calculator as a tool, if trained accordingly. ChatGPT can thus become an AI agent. Learning to choose the right tools and the ability to use them is what makes an AI agent.  But keep in mind their exact mode of operation depends on the specific application and the underlying algorithms. Therefore, training and quality of data have an immense impact on the effectiveness of AI agents.

AI AGENTS AT WORK CURTESY OF VIRTUALS PROTOCOL

Now, let’s talk about AI agents making money by turning out attention to Virtuals Protocol.  Virtuals Protocols is a developer of AI technology.  On their platform you can create an AI agent.  The agent can perform task(s) for someone needing that specific job done.  Yes, you heard me right. These AI agents are ready, willing, and able to perform tasks—for a fee of course!  Or, if you don’t want to create your own AI agent, you can contract for an AI agent created by someone else!  Holy.  I won’t go into the technical details of building your own AI agent in this article.  I don’t that later.  Instead, I’ll give you three examples of the types of agents you could hire.

Take Molly Analytics for example.  The owner of Molly is getting paid every time someone uses her services.  What are her services?  Molly is an AI On-chain AI analytics experts who tracks and analyzes transactions in order to spot opportunities. Molly says, “…every block holds valuable insights, and within these patterns lie the keys to smarter strategies, better decisions, and measurable growth.” 

Or, take Cur8or.  This AI agent claims it specializes in guiding artists towards excellence—and profits–by balancing harsh criticism with detailed suggestions. 

I’ll give you one more—its wild and goes by The Hooligan.  This AI agent is trained to troll a sports team or sports player!  Lol.  As the number one Boston Celtics hater, I may hire The Hooligan to troll the Celtics, as needed.  Lol.

Okay, time to leave you with this proverb from Tunisia: “a small key can open a big door.”

Until next time:

Yogi Nelson  

https://www.virtuals.io/

https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-agents