[halpert]

Sure you can transfer ownership by going to a company, getting approval from the board to update the cap table, and then executing the transaction via wire transfer. Or you could do it near instantly on the blockchain.

And how would you write an option on your ownership stake using conventional technology? That seems like it would be prohibitively hard.

How would you use your ownership as collateral in a loan? The illiquid nature of private stock may turn some lenders off. On a blockchain, the collateral can be part of the smart contract.

Many technological advances simply make already possible things easier. For instance, checks were around since the time of the Crusades. Functionally, checks transfer money from one account to another. We also have a postal service we can use to send checks almost anywhere in the world. So why do we have digital banking infrastructure and wire transfers?

[arcticbull]

Corporate approval is optional and the company would have to waive it to operate in the model you describe. The friction you describe is at the will of the company. They can allow free transfer now they choose not to.

The issues you describe are intentional encumbrances on the part of the company and corporate attorneys which they could stop at any time. You haven’t described how this model would change their minds. Changing their minds is the thing holding back what you desire not the technical limitations.

[halpert]

So I just created a company? How can I give you some ownership right now? Are we going to email contracts to each other or something? And how would you write an option on your ownership? You're just hand waving and saying "you could do that easily some other way." But how? Unfortunately, I don't think many people will trust a random option contract you write without some type of guarantee the contract will be executed.

[arcticbull]

It's like 2 clicks on Carta or Pulley, and fully electronic and automated - and backed by the force of applicable law. It probably takes less time end-to-end than a Bitcoin transaction.

Even if Carta and Pulley didn't exist, this is still not a technical limitation of non-Blockchain systems, at all.