Blockchain startup Bitland has made it into TIME magazine’s 50 Most Genuis Companies of 2018 listicle.

“At the heart of every great business is a creative solution to a problem—and those solutions sometimes change the world,” says TIME. “To assemble our first annual list of Genius Companies, we asked our global network of editors and correspondents to nominate businesses that are inventing the future. Then we evaluated candidates on key factors, including originality, influence, success and ambition. The result: 50 companies that are driving progress now, and bear watching for what they do next.”

Bitland, the magazine notes, uses blockchain technology to help people prove their land belongs to them. Once possession is verified by Bitland’s operatives on the ground in cooperation with authorities, that fact gets memorialised in a blockchain record.

The venture, which eventually plans to take fees from governments and a slice of transactions made through its platform, now operates in seven African nations plus India; it also works with Native Americans in the US.

“Land rights are the foundation of a country,” says company COO Elliot Hedman. “The biggest thing that’s holding back developing countries from jumping onto the world stage economically and socioeconomically is insecure land.”

In good company

Also included in the top 50 are Amazon, Apple, Airbnb, Disney, Domino’s, Netflix, Nike, Nintendo, Paytm, Pinterest and Spotify.

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