Colorado Church group tokenizes $2.5M chapel

This may be the first tokenized church in the world.

A network of affiliated church groups called the “Colorado House of Prayer” has tokenized its main chapel in an effort to purchase the $2.5 million building. 

The pastor heading the project, Blake Bush, says he was compelled by a higher power to use blockchain technology as a tool for advancing the group’s mission.

Tokenize the building

According to a report from Forbes, Bush’s congregation and other church groups had been renting the building from its owner, a local businessperson who also owns a car dealership.

The 11,457-square-foot building, called “Old Stone Church” due to its stone exterior, was purchased by its current owner in 2022 at a cost of $2.2 million. Reportedly, Bush and the Colorado House of Prayer group intend to purchase the building for $2.5 million

Bush says he came up with the idea of tokenizing the building — putting it on the blockchain as a digital asset that can be split into shares — after a spiritual experience.

“I heard the Lord say, ‘tokenize the building,'” Bush told Forbes, later adding that he had been “praying for this for years” and that God had told him to “go get my house.”

Blockchain and real estate

In order to accomplish his holy mission, Bush and the group created “Stone Coin,” a digital asset used to raise money for the purchase of Old Stone Church. The coin is tied to a real estate token created by REtokens and running on the Polymesh private blockchain.

Like any tokenization project, the results will depend on the amount of positive token-flow and reactive value. The project is reportedly seeking investors after having raised about half of its goal.

In the future the token’s board, which includes Bush and other religious leaders as well as the mayor of a nearby town, plans to open up token sales to non-parishioners. While this could potentially put the digital asset ownership at risk of an outsider takeover, Bush doesn’t appear to be too concerned about that.

When presented with the notion that, for example, Satanists could end up making a run on the church’s tokens, Bush quipped that he’d be grateful, “let’s introduce you to Jesus.”

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