A chapel in Colorado became the world’s first tokenized church. A local congregation plans to purchase the historic building from its current owner for $2.5 million, breaking new ground in the history of church investment.
Blake Bush, Pastor of the Colorado House of Prayer, a network of church groups, launched a unique fundraising campaign to purchase the historic Old Stone Church building in Fort Collins through tokenization. In an interview with Forbes, Bush said the initiative will preserve the church’s heritage and give parishioners access to innovative ways to donate.
Bush claims that tokenization is the way to save the church from financial problems. The idea of selling tokens backed by real estate will allow parishioners to become investors and support the preservation of the building. The pastor plans to raise $2.5 million to buy the 19th century building that the church group was renting for the past two years.
The building is tokenized on the Polymesh private blockchain via the REtokens platform. The first phase of Stone Coin’s tokenization is launched and aimed at professional investors, with the minimum investment being $50,000. In the future, everyone will have access to the tokens and the minimum investment amount will be reduced to $1,500.
Stone tokens won’t be listed on crypto exchanges. However, according to the website, they’ll be traded “until Jesus returns” or until the majority of investors decide to sell all assets. Investors don’t need to create a crypto wallet to purchase tokens. Purchases will be made through a REtokens account, which will require a KYC process to create. Token holders will have no say in the church’s management, so the purchase of tokens by Satanists won’t be able to disrupt the plans of the church group. Token holders will only be able to vote on the election of the board of directors and the possible resale of the building. Tokens’ projected annual growth rate is 2–3%, depending on rising real estate prices in Fort Collins. Investors will also be able to receive small dividends from renting out the building.
Pastor Bush noted that parishioners who choose to donate by purchasing Stone tokens will be required to pay standard income and capital gains taxes on Form K-1. According to some parishioners, this could discourage major investors accustomed to donating through nonprofits and thus exempting themselves from taxation.
Read about what tokenization is and how the real estate tokenization process works in the article by CP Media.
