FAQ

A basic blockchain crash course

What is the blockchain?

The blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions. Constantly growing as ‘completed’ blocks (the most recent transactions) are recorded and added to it in chronological order, it allows market participants to keep track of digital currency transactions without central recordkeeping. Each node (a computer connected to the network) gets a copy of the blockchain, which is downloaded automatically. (For more information see:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain)

What are smart contracts?

Smart contracts help you exchange money, property, shares, or anything of value in a transparent, conflict-free way while avoiding the services of a middleman. The best way to describe smart contracts is to compare the technology to a vending machine. Ordinarily, you would go to a lawyer or a notary, pay them, and wait while you get the document. With smart contracts, you simply drop a bitcoin into the vending machine (i.e. ledger), and your escrow, driver’s license, or whatever drops into your account. More so, smart contracts not only define the rules and penalties around an agreement in the same way that a traditional contract does, but also automatically executes and enforces those obligations. (source: https://blockgeeks.com/guides/smart-contracts/)

What are cryptocurrencies?

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies (also known as “coins” or “tokens”) for which encryption techniques are used to regulate their use. Unlike fiat currencies (like USD or YEN) cryptocurrencies are not regulated or controlled by any bank, government or centralized financial authorities.

Where and how do I buy Bitcoin or Ethereum?

The safest and most commonly used way for new users to purchase any sort of cryptocurrency coins is through a cryptocurrency exchange site. REALISTO recommends GDAX, Kraken or Bitstamp, which all support fiat money (official currency) transactions. Keep in mind that the account verification process for new users of these exchanges may take up to four days.

Where and how do I obtain a cryptocurrency wallet?

To participate in the ICO, you will need an ERC-20 wallet (Ethereum standard). REALISTO recommends myetherwallet.com. Pay attention to the security-related instructions on that website, and keep in mind the general safety rules for doing business on the internet. You’ll find that there is just as much due diligence involved as there is with regular internet banking. After all, this is your money we’re talking about here. (For more information see: https://myetherwallet.groovehq.com/knowledge_base/topics/protecting-yourself-and-your-funds)

What is an ICO?

The term Initial Coin Offering (ICO) the process in which a company issues a new cryptocurrency or token to investors in exchange for Bitcoin or Ethereum. Thus crowdfunding their venture while giving investors a stake in it via the token. The value of the newly generated  token is closely linked to the success and progess of the underlying venture.

All about the REALISTO token

Will the REA token be tradeable at exchanges?

REALISTO is currently negotiating with trading platforms to offer to token holders the use of several reliable and trustworthy exchanges. Once we have firm updates, ICO token holders will be notified.

How many REA tokens are being sold in the ICO?

REA tokens are not pre-generated. During the Sale, tokens will be generated until the token sale ends on December 25th at 12:00 PM UTC. After December 25th no more REA tokens will be generated. There will be no hardcap in the ICO. However the Pre-Sale has a hardcap of 2,000,000 REA Tokens.

REALISTO opts for a no-hardcap ICO format, because we see no reason to limit the potential to acquire high-yield real estate for our investors. One golden rule of the real-estate business is that the more capital one can deploy, the more diverse, stable and profitable the portfolio. Furthermore, a hardcap may well lead to so-called “race conditions” (as described in Etherum-founder Vitalik Buterin’s blog and elsewhere), which unduly privilege those with deeper pockets by creating a run for the highest transaction fees.

What is the difference between the REA token and other asset-backed tokens?

Unlike other ICOs, which invest all over the world, REALISTO will only operate in real estate markets that we know inside out. It takes years of experience to know your way around a real estate marketplace and know how to differentiate between good and bad offers. With our award-winning expertise in the Berlin marketplace, REALISTO has this experience. Plus, REALISTO’s platform will be a model for future real estate crowd investing—opening up an exciting new way for its token holders to generate profit. 

Who can participate in the token sale?

Anybody from anywhere in the world, with the exception of citizens and residents of the United States of America, Germany, China, and Singapore. The REALISTO business venture is entirely legal and compliant with existing German law (where REALISTO is based). However, an ICO would be subject to prospectus requirement under German law, and the laws of several other countries. As this involves lengthy procedures that would take approximately a year or more to complete, REALISTO does not opt to undergo said procedures at this stage.  

Where can I see your smart contract?

You can review it here: https://github.com/realisto

I already have so many tokens, why should I invest in REA tokens, too?

First off, the REA token is unique because it is an asset-backed token, meaning that its value is backed by real-world assets (i.e., real estate). Along with that real-world value, the REA token also entitles you to a stake in the REALISTO platform, which generates ETH profits from its core pool of assets as well as profits from fees levied for platform services.

Plus, with the November ICO, you’ll get in on the ground floor of an idea that will revolutionize the real estate investment market. In creating a full-service platform for real estate-related ICOs, we unleash an innovative concept that will attract many experts and emitters who see crowd investing as a viable way to raise capital. In the past, these deal makers were hesitant to get involved with the opaque business models that existed previously. However, REALISTO represents a sea change for the industry.

Some specific questions you may have about REALISTO

What is the REALISTO platform

REALISTO is a decentralized, global platform dedicated to crowdfunding the world’s best real estate opportunities. Using blockchain technology, the REALISTO platform operates as a two-sided marketplace allowing real estate experts to present unique projects, tokenize them, and offer them as curated investment opportunities.

With the funds raised in the ICO, the REALISTO team will launch the first two projects on the platform which are backed by REA tokens. By allocating REA tokens to different investment opportunities investors can actively manage their own real estate portfolio.

ROI is directly paid out to REA token holders in ETH on a monthly basis, starting early 2018. REA token holders will also share 70% of the fees generated by the REALISTO platform.

What is the REALISTO Core Pool?

REALISTO will use half of the capital raised in the ICO (minus 10% for the operational fund) to establish a core portfolio of real estate, acquired at the team’s own expert discretion. The portfolio will consist of residential and commercial buildings located in Berlin. Every REA token holder will receive a share of the rental income generated. This will be called the REALISTO Core Pool.

What is the REALISTO Opportunity Pool?

We will set up the REALISTO Opportunity Pool, where real estate investment projects will be presented to REA token holders so that they may vote on acquisition via token allocation. This way, investors can choose in which projects to invest and actively manage their own real estate portfolio.

What is the difference between REALISTO and other, conventional crowd investing platforms?

REALISTO’s development was based on the Ethereum blockchain, which allows the platform to use smart contracts that guarantee transparency, investor safety and hassle-free automatic disbursement of profits. That way, we bypass other expensive, restrictive and slow methods of raising capital (e.g., banks). No more red tape, no more excess regulation and no more barriers or boundaries!

Why the blockchain?

The blockchain ledger and smart contracts provide ultimate transparency for business transactions. Plus, smart contracts are “trustless” (i.e., they do not need to rely on trust). As such, they simply execute the provisions made in the contract without any further costs related to admin or breach of contract. That means disputed ownership and legal wrangling over payments or profits are things of the past. What’s more, blockchain-based smart contracts transcend local, legal, political and geographical boundaries and barriers.

How are the proceeds from the ICO used?

The proceeds from the ICO will be split via smart contract in the following manner: 90% of the funds will be used to fund acquisition of assets and 10% will go to the operational fund that covers all operational costs.

With the first half of the 90% of capital raised, REALISTO will set up a Core Pool of expertly selected, high-quality residential and commercial real estate assets. These assets will generate steady returns for users who plan to hold their tokens and watch the intrinsic value grow. The second half of the 90% of capital raised will be used for an Opportunity Pool, where more active investors can vote for the acquisition of real estate projects of different risk-to-yield ratios. Investors will vote by allocating their tokens according to their investment strategies.

How does the REALISTO Team make their profit?

The team will be highly motivated to properly run every aspect of REALISTO.

The REALISTO team will take 2.5% of the returns realized by the Core Pool and the Opportunity Pool.
This is to remunerate the team for curating, administrating, managing, and developing the real estate
assets

The REALISTO team will take 30% of the fees generated by offering the platform to real estate experts
for their own individual ICOs. This is to remunerate the team for managing and administrating the
platform, maintaining the infrastructure, conducting emitter due diligence, managing issuances and
crowdfunding campaigns, developing projects, marketing, and acquiring new projects.

10% of the REA tokens minted in the ICO will go to the REALISTO team. The tokens will be locked in
for 12 months, thereby incentivizing the team to develop the platform to its fullest potential.

Is REALISTO a DAO?

No, REALISTO is not a DAO. The DAO concept turned out to be an interesting yet flawed experiment that quickly showed the practical limits of an autonomous organization. In contrast, the REALISTO platform features real estate investments that are curated by experts! In order to share in the profits generated by these curated assets, token holders allocate their tokens to specific projects. 

Who curates the projects?

Accredited, experienced real-estate experts with local knowledge.

Is there risk of total loss?

Emphatically no! Even if real estate prices in Berlin should suffer a significant drop (which is highly unlikely in the current environment), rents will not decrease for years to come because of the city’s extremely tight housing market. 

Why do you launch an ICO?

That’s easy: You need capital to profitably conduct business in the real estate market—and the greater the capital, the higher the returns. We at REALISTO do not believe in the cumbersome, slow, restrictive and expensive process of obtaining a bank loan. We are avid supporters of the blockchain concept and strongly believe that we can make a valuable contribution to the crypto world with our version of an asset-backed token. We want to help crypto holders to access an investment class that has traditionally been inaccessible to smaller investors and—yes, that’s right—make money in the process.