A church in Colorado plans to tokenize and run on the blockchain network in an effort to raise $2.5 million. It will be the first church ever to be tokenized.
One Hope of Colorado, a network of affiliated church groups, has launched an initiative to purchase its main chapel in Fort Collins, built in 1897, using blockchain technology. The group has tokenized the “Old Stone Church,” a historic 11,457-square-foot building, to raise $2.5 million for its ownership.
While this may sound new, as it will be the first church ever to be tokenized, it is not new for the blockchain world to tokenize real-world assets. In simple terms, the tokenization of funds is the process of converting real-world assets (RWAs) or funds into digital tokens using blockchain technology. Real-world assets encompass tangible assets like real estate, intellectual properties, art, currencies, commodities, equities, bonds, money markets, and more.
Pastor Blake Bush led the initiative, believing this innovative approach was divinely inspired.
“I heard the Lord say, ‘tokenize the building,’” Bush told Forbes. He further added that he had been “praying for this for years” and that God had told him to “go get my house.”
Why is the church tokenizing itself?
Bush’s congregation and other church groups had been renting the Old Stone Church from its current owner, a local businessperson who also owns a car dealership. The building was purchased in 2022 for $2.2 million. Bush and the Colorado House of Prayer now plan to buy it for $2.5 million. To achieve this, Bush partnered with REtokens, a company specializing in the tokenization of real estate assets, to tokenize the building using the Polymesh blockchain.
One Hope of Colorado aims to pioneer a new model for community investment through real-world asset tokenization, selling shares to the community to raise funds. The goal is to secure enough capital to purchase the Old Stone Church within three years, preserving the historic building. In its initial phase, One Hope intends to raise $2.5 million from accredited investors within the first year. These investors will hold the tokens for a year before selling them on a secondary market, primarily to Colorado residents.
Graeme Moore, Head of Tokenization at Polymesh Association, stated that real estate is undergoing a transformation through real-world asset tokenization.
“One Hope of Colorado, as the first-ever tokenized church, is a great example of unlocking liquidity and fostering collaborative ownership,” he said in a press release.
Pastor Bush and his group have created “Stone Coin,” a digital asset designed to raise funds for purchasing the Old Stone Church. As with any tokenization project, its success will rely on the level of positive token flow and market response.