Real Estate Dubai moves to formalise real estate tokenisation By Chris Hamill-Stewart March 20, 2025, 5:23 PM Getty Images via Unsplash+ Real estate tokenisation would allow buyers to own parts of Dubai's skyscrapers Tokenisation allows fractional ownership Dubai says market could reach $16bn Sector still nascent Dubai is running a pilot scheme that allows for the tokenisation of property title deeds, the first jurisdiction in the Middle East to do this. Tokenisation is the process of creating and trading digital tokens that are backed by real-world assets on a blockchain. It enables direct and verifiable peer-to-peer transactions. Through the process, a piece of real estate could be divided into digital tokens, each representing a share of ownership in the property. “For instance, a luxury skyscraper in Dubai could be tokenised, allowing investors to buy a fraction of it for a fraction of the cost,” Arun Leslie John, chief market analyst at Dubai-based financial services company Century Financial told AGBI. Tokenisation “opens up new opportunities for investors who might not have the capital to purchase an entire property,” John said. The art world has also embraced tokenisation With Dubai’s Real Estate Tokenisation Project, the Dubai Land Department forecasts that the tokenised real estate market could be worth as much as AED60 billion ($16 billion) by 2033 – representing 7 percent of all transactions, it said in a press release. Blockchain transactions are by nature transparent, and the expansion of tokenisation into the real estate market could reduce risk of fraud, lower administration and costs, and increase access to international capital, John said. Nevertheless, this sector is still in its early days. Dubai art dealer uses NFTs for fractional art ownership Dubai targets broader real-estate access with tokens Damac to tokenise $1bn in real estate “Tokenising property at this stage is probably too nascent because there’s not enough scale,” Melvin Deng, CEO of QCP Capital, a Singapore-based digital asset trading company, said. Tokenisation is not limited to real estate. Emirati startup ORO Labs announced this week that it had raised $1.5 million to fund its idea of tokenising gold, allowing people to trade the metal directly on a blockchain. Register now: It’s easy and free AGBI registered members can access even more of our unique analysis and perspective on business and economics in the Middle East. Why sign uP Exclusive weekly email from our editor-in-chief Personalised weekly emails for your preferred industry sectors Read and download our insight packed white papers Access to our mobile app Prioritised access to live events Register for free Already registered? Sign in I’ll register later
