In a groundbreaking move, a Colorado church has tokenized its $2.5 million chapel, aiming to acquire the historic Old Stone Church.
$2.5M Chapel Tokenized by Colorado Church Group
The "Colorado House of Prayer" is an umbrella term for a number of related Christian organizations who have tokenized its main chapel in an attempt to acquire the $2.5 million structure.
Project manager and preacher Blake Bush claims a higher force inspired him to employ blockchain technology to further the organization's goals.
Forbes states that the building's owner is a local businessman who also operates a car dealership; Bush's congregation and other religious groups had been renting space from him.
Known as "Old Stone Church" because of its stone facade, the 11,457-square-foot structure was bought by its present owner for $2.2 million in 2022. The building is reportedly going to be purchased for $2.5 million by Bush and the Colorado House of Prayer group.
Blake Bush Claims Divine Inspiration for Tokenization
Bush claims that a mystical experience inspired him to tokenize the building, which is to place it on the blockchain as a digital asset that can be divided into shares.
According to Bush's interview with Forbes, "I heard the Lord say, ‘tokenize the building.'" He continued by saying that he had been "praying for this for years" and that God had instructed him to "go get my house."
To carry out his sacred goal, Bush and his associates developed "Stone Coin," a digital currency that helped fund the acquisition of Old Stone Church. A real estate token developed by REtokens and hosted on the private Polymesh blockchain is the one to which the coin is linked.
Cointelegraph shares that the quantity of positive token-flow and reactive value determines the outcomes, as is the case with any tokenization effort. The project has apparently raised half of its objective and is now seeking investors.
Future Token Sales May Include Non-Parishioners
Board members of the token, which include Bush and other religious leaders in addition to the mayor of a neighboring town, intend to allow non-parishioners to purchase tokens in the future. Bush doesn't seem too worried about the possibility of an outsider taking over ownership of the digital assets, even though this could happen.
For instance, when asked about the possibility that Satanists may try to steal church tokens, Bush joked that he would be thankful and said, "let's introduce you to Jesus."