Giannoni, Claudia;
(2025)
Enhancing transparency and compliance in alternative assets: a blockchain solution for fine art and real estate.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The growth of alternative investment has been considerable in recent years, with alternative assets becoming a significant portion of investors’ portfolios. Real estate and fine art represent a significant market share among alternative assets. Statistics show that transactions in the global art market amounted to 65.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2021 [1, 2]. Similarly, real estate is considered a valuable component of an investor’s portfolio. Between 2016 and 2021, the global real estate investment management sector almost doubled, reaching approximately 5.16 trillion U.S. dollars in aggregate assets [3]. Unfortunately, fine art and real estate are attractive sectors for money laundering. The main reasons are the large monetary transactions involved, the potential for high-value assets, and the relative ease of disguising the true ownership and value of properties or artworks. A study identifying the most common methods of money laundering [4] confirms that antiquities, art, and real estate projects are particularly exposed to these criminal activities. Blockchain (BC) is a digital technology that has gained traction in multiple industries. Although its popularity is mainly linked to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, blockchain has multiple other applications. Thanks to blockchain, ownership and transaction history can be securely stored, increasing transparency and accountability. While existing blockchain solutions narrow the scope to specific business problems, this applied research takes a more holistic approach. Our purpose is to increase transparency and help combat money laundering in fine art and real estate to benefit society. The research explores the creation of the first blockchain registry for fine art and real estate. This blockchain ecosystem dramatically enhances due diligence and increases transparency without compromising privacy and confidentiality. Starting with proof of concept of crucial features to increase accountability, we then design two hypotheses (for a permissioned and public blockchain). The system focuses on increasing data reliability through endorsement mechanisms and maintaining privacy while allowing increased trans- parency. This study was selected by UCL Innovation and Enterprise, which funded the development of an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Enhancing transparency and compliance in alternative assets: a blockchain solution for fine art and real estate |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | Alternative assets, Blockchain, Fine art, Fintech, Monet laundering, Real estate, ZKPs |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10211303 |
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