Outdated public systems are more than just inconvenient. They can be expensive, slow, vulnerable to fraud, and hard to navigate. For decades, real estate transactions in the U.S. have relied on paper records, fragmented databases, and settlement processes that often take months. That’s now changing.

Balcony, a real estate infrastructure company building on its own Avalanche Layer 1 (L1) through AvaCloud, has signed a landmark five year agreement with the Bergen County Clerk’s Office in New Jersey, to digitize and tokenize the property records of over 370,000 parcels. Representing approximately $240 billion in real estate value, this is the largest blockchain deed tokenization project in U.S. history.

Built on Avalanche, Powered by AvaCloud

Balcony’s infrastructure uses Avalanche’s high-speed, low-cost, and customizable technology stack to bring deed records on-chain across all 70 municipalities in Bergen County. The system is powered by AvaCloud, enabling Balcony to launch a scalable, purpose-built Avalanche L1 that meets the performance and security demands of large public institutions.

With this system, deed settlement time drops from 90 days to just one. Records are digitized, searchable, and tamper-proof. Public infrastructure becomes more resilient against ransomware and fraud. County staff and residents gain secure, instant access to vital property documents.

In 2023 alone, 23 municipalities in New Jersey were hit by ransomware attacks. Some paid up to $1 million per breach just to restore core infrastructure. Many of these systems still run on decades-old technology stacks like COBOL, leaving them vulnerable to outages, data loss, and manipulation. By moving records to Avalanche, Balcony gives local governments a hardened, immutable system that reduces attack surfaces, improves transparency, and ensures property records remain secure and verifiable even in crisis scenarios.

“Property records form the foundation of trust between governments and the communities they serve,” said Gregg Lester, President of Balcony. “By bringing this critical infrastructure on-chain, we’re not only streamlining operations, but also safeguarding public trust, unlocking smarter data for better decision-making, and laying the groundwork for cities and counties across the country to embrace a more transparent, accessible, and future-ready approach to land record management.”

Avalanche’s infrastructure, paired with Balcony’s software, represents a new standard for resilience in the public sector.

A Statewide Movement, Starting in Bergen

Bergen County may be the centerpiece, but it’s just one part of a much larger shift already underway across New Jersey. Balcony is actively deploying its on-chain infrastructure in a growing number of municipalities across the state, working closely with local governments that are eager to modernize outdated systems. Balcony has signed agreements or is in active rollout with municipalities like Camden, Orange, Morristown, and Fort Lee. 

These are not isolated experiments. Together, they represent more than 460,000 properties and an estimated $290 billion in real estate value now being brought on-chain. Each rollout builds on the last, creating momentum and proof points that help other counties and towns get comfortable with the model.

This level of coordination among multiple jurisdictions signals a new kind of blockchain adoption — one that is public-sector-led, cross-municipality, and backed by long-term operational goals. By launching on Avalanche through AvaCloud, Balcony can tailor infrastructure to meet each municipality’s needs while maintaining the scalability, transparency, and resilience of a unified L1 blockchain.

The result is a statewide network of interconnected real estate systems, all operating on-chain, all contributing to faster processes, better data integrity, and stronger public services.

“This initiative is about improving the lives of our residents,” said John Hogan, County Clerk of Bergen County. “By digitizing property records, we are making the process simpler, faster, and more secure for homeowners, businesses, and future generations. Our plan is to use this forward-thinking approach to enhance transparency, reduce delays, and protect against hacks ensuring that Bergen County remains a leader in innovation and service to our community.”

What’s happening in New Jersey could soon become a model for how government infrastructure is rebuilt across the country.

Millions in Revenue Recovered

Beyond streamlining operations, Balcony is already helping recover lost revenue. In Orange, NJ, Balcony’s platform uncovered nearly $1 million in tax income that had been buried in outdated or incomplete records.

Multiply that across dozens of municipalities and the financial impact quickly adds up. With a modern, on-chain system, governments can identify discrepancies faster, correct them with less friction, and ultimately collect more of the revenue they’re owed.

Not Just a Tech Story, But a Policy Shift

What makes this launch so significant is that it’s not a pilot or an experiment. It’s a real contract, at scale, with long-term implications.

This is blockchain meeting public policy. The result is a new blueprint for how governments operate in the digital age. From infrastructure modernization and real estate automation to secure record-keeping and more transparent governance, Balcony’s work reflects a shift in how governments deliver services, manage data, and build trust.

It also shows that blockchain isn’t just for financial assets. It’s a tool for modernizing the systems that affect millions of people and billions in value.

As more governments begin to digitize their infrastructure, real estate processes will follow. Faster closings, lower legal overhead, real-time data access, and streamlined compliance are just the beginning.

This multi-year agreement in Bergen County establishes a new standard for how blockchain can modernize public infrastructure. With over $290 billion in real estate moving on-chain and hundreds of thousands of residents now supported by decentralized infrastructure, the future of public records isn’t theoretical anymore. It’s here.

And it’s built on Avalanche.