Dubai authorities are set to digitize real estate ownership through a pioneering tokenization project in collaboration with Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF).
The Dubai Land Department (DLD) introduced the pilot phase of the Real Estate Tokenisation Project, an initiative that allows investors to acquire fractional ownership of properties via digital assets.
This project is part of the Real Estate Innovation Initiative (REES), launched under the Dubai Real Estate Sector Strategy 2033, aiming to attract tech-driven companies to revolutionize the real estate sector. Recently, the DLD hosted a specialized seminar with PropTech firms specializing in real estate tokenization.
The initiative is being executed through Sandbox Dubai, with support from VARA and DFF. The pilot phase will assess the project’s scalability and its impact on the market, ultimately paving the way for a regulatory framework for digital assets in real estate.
According to HE Eng. Marwan Ahmed bin Ghalita, Director General of DLD, tokenization will enhance transparency and accessibility in real estate transactions. By 2033, the value of tokenized real estate transactions in Dubai is expected to reach 60 billion dirhams ($16.3 billion), approximately 7% of the market.
The global tokenized assets market surpassed $12 billion in September 2024 and grew to $13 billion by the end of the year. Analysts predict that the RWA market could expand 50x within six years, reaching $1.3 trillion to $30 trillion by 2030.
