Dubai's real estate market gets ready for US$500 million fund for tokenisation

Arabian Post

3 days ago

By Saifur Rahman
Nisus Finance Investment Consultancy FZCO (NiFCO Dubai), a subsidiary of India's Nisus Finance Services Company Limited (NIFCO), said it will place funds and assets worth up to US$500 million (Dh1.83 billion) for tokenisation in the UAE.
NiFCO Dubai said, it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Xchain Technologies FZCO (Toyow), a leading blockchain-based forensic and advisory firm, for the tokenisation of funds and assets worth up to US$500 million (Dh1.83 billion), as the market shifts towards Web3 technology.
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Tokenisation, the process of converting ownership rights of real-world assets into digital tokens, is gaining traction in the Middle East, particularly in Dubai. This trend is driven by the potential for increased liquidity, accessibility, and transparency in real estate investment.
Nisus Finance plans to conduct a Security Token Offering (STO) of its real estate assets under management (AUM) through Toyow's marketplace. Toyow will provide end-to-end technical support, including smart contract development, blockchain integration, and regulatory alignment.
The news comes a few days after Dubai Land Department (DLD) launched the region's first tokenised real estate investment project through the 'Prypco Mint' platform. The initiative is being implemented in partnership with Prypco.
These are in line with the UAE's futuristic national vision focusing on technology and innovation. The news comes a few days after the DLD launched the region's first tokenised real estate investment project in collaboration with the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the Central Bank of the UAE, and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF). With DLD projecting tokenised real estate transactions to reach Dh60 billion by 2033 — or 7 percent of the total market — Dubai is clearly positioning itself as a global hub for asset tokenisation.
'This MoU will help us develop real estate funds on the Web3 blockchain technology platform – that is set to revolutionise investment in real estate in the future,' Amit Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director of Nisus Finance Group (NiFCO), said. 'This would be our first such venture and depending on how the market responds, will usher in a new era in the UAE's high-growth real estate market.
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'STO on a Web3 platform is secure, transparent and set to drive future real estate investment. Property developers are already introducing cryptocurrency and tokenisation as new channels of payment and raising funds. We are taking it a step forward by creating funds to accelerate the growth of the real estate market.'
Dubai is taking a leadership role in the Middle East in real estate tokenisation, while the global real estate tokenisation market is expected to reach US$18.9 trillion by 2033.
Tokenised private real estate funds are projected to grow to US$1 trillion by 2035, with a total market penetration rate of 8.5 percent. The tokenised ownership of loans and securitisations could grow to US$2.39 trillion by 2035, with a total market penetration rate of 0.55 percent, according to a report by the global business advisory firm Deloitte.
Tokenisation could democratise the real estate market through crowdfunding and fractional ownership that will allow investors to invest smaller amount in high-value projects, according to experts. 'This will help an increased number of investors to participate in investing in properties through Web33 technology,' said a property analyst, requesting anonymity. 'However, there should be clear regulatory guidelines and massive public awareness drive for retail buyers and micro-investors to gain insights before investing their hard-earned savings in to tokenised assets.'
As per the MoU, Xchain Technologies FZCO will tokenise Nisus Finance's Real Estate Assets Under Management (AUM) worth up to US$500 million (Dh1.83 billion) as security tokens on Toyow, a global multi-category tokenised Real World Assets (RWA) marketplace.
Toyow will leverage its platform to provide technical and operational support, including regulatory compliance across the UAE, DIFC, and international jurisdictions. Investors holding the Toyow Token will be able to invest in this fund using Toyow Token ($TTN).
'The tokenised real-world assets market (excluding stable coins) reached $15.2 billion by December 2024. This growth is fueled by a supportive regulatory landscape, technological advancements, and increased investment from financial institutions,' according to reports.
The growth in real estate tokenisation is driven by several factors, including: increased institutional Interest; clear regulatory support; technological maturation; investment opportunities as tokenisation allows for fractional ownership and access to real estate for a wider range of investors, including those with lower investment capital.
Surajit Chanda, Co-founder, Toyow, says, 'Partnering with Nisus Finance on an STO of this scale underscores the growing maturity of real-world asset tokenization in the region. At Toyow, our mission is to unlock liquidity and access for high-quality assets by offering a secure, compliant, and scalable infrastructure. This collaboration reinforces our belief that institutional-grade tokenization is no longer a concept—it's here, it's accelerating, and it's changing how capital flows into real estate.'
Toyow will also manage investor onboarding and KYC/AML compliance, provide secure wallet and custody infrastructure, and enable both primary issuance and secondary trading of the tokenised assets—all within a seamless, compliant ecosystem designed for institutional-grade scalability.
Toyow is redefining access to real-world assets by enabling the tokenisation of categories like real estate, art, precious metals, alternative investments, and more, on-chain. Built for institutional-grade compliance and scalability, Toyow enables asset owners to digitise, fractionalise and monetise high-value assets, while offering investors secure, transparent access to global investment opportunities through a liquid, blockchain-powered marketplace.
The partnership is part of Toyow's growing tokenisation pipeline valued at over US$38 billion across multiple asset classes and jurisdictions globally.
As per the MoU, Toyow will list the tokenised real estate assets on its marketplace for primary and secondary trading, while managing liquidity mechanisms for the secondary trading of security tokens. In addition to these, Toyow will also oversee marketing, investor outreach, and awareness campaigns for the STO, in addition to providing a secure wallet infrastructure and custody solutions for tokenised assets.
It will also handle all aspects of investor onboarding and operational execution for the STO, including customer support and transaction management.
Disruptive technologies, such as asset tokenisation, are poised to transform real estate over the next few years. Built on blockchain technology, tokenisation converts physical or financial assets into fractional, digital representations that can be securely owned and traded online.
'Tokenised real estate could not only pave the way for new markets and products, but also give real estate organisations an opportunity to overcome challenges related to operational inefficiency, high administrative costs charged to investors, and limited retail participation,' according to a report by Deloitte.
Tokenisation allows capital generation across the capital stack- including debt, equity, and hybrid funding on a single platform. Over the last eight years, since the first tokenised real estate deals were completed, it has helped open potential new avenues for real estate investment through fractional ownership, the report says.
This technology could help build trillions of dollars of economic activity for the real estate sector over the next decade, in part, by allowing it to expand its investor base and product offerings. The Deloitte Center for Financial Services predicts that US$4 trillion of real estate will be tokenised by 2035, increasing from less than US$0.3 trillion in 2024, with a CAGR of 27 percent.
Also published on Medium.
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