Damac to tokenise $1bn in real estate

• Partnering with Hong Kong platform
• Makes investment more accessible
• Tokenised assets on sale soon

Damac Group, the Dubai property company, has partnered with the Hong Kong-based blockchain platform Mantra to tokenise assets worth at least $1 billion.

The project will use blockchain technology to create digital tokens representing ownership or rights to Damac’s assets, allowing them to be traded online. 

Tokenisation is intended to lower barriers to investment by enabling fractional ownership, which has been a focus in Dubai’s efforts to attract retail and institutional investors to its booming real estate market.

Damac, one of Dubai’s largest property developers, owns a portfolio that spans luxury real estate, hotels and data centres. 

While the specific assets to be tokenised were not disclosed, the companies said the initiative was aimed at making investment opportunities more accessible.

“Tokenising our assets will provide investors with a secure, transparent and convenient way to access a wide range of investment opportunities,” Amira Sajwani, managing director of sales and development at Damac, said in a statement.

• Property app Stake to launch in Saudi Arabia

• Dubai fractional ownership is promising, but untested

• Tax-friendly UAE beckons blockchain businesses

Mantra, a blockchain platform focused on real-world assets, which was founded by John Patrick Mullin and Jayant Ramanand in 2020, will facilitate the project through its proprietary technology. 

Tokenised assets will be available on the Mantra platform early this year, the companies said.

Mahmoud Al Burai, a senior adviser at the Dubai Land Department, told AGBI in November that Dubai plans to widen access to the real estate sector by streamlining processes for tokenisation, which converts real-estate assets into digital tokens on a blockchain.

The current regulatory and administrative processes for fractional ownership are complex, limiting the number of platforms offering such services. 

By introducing blockchain-based solutions, the emirate aims to simplify compliance, enhance investor protections and open up the property market to a wider pool of investors.

This will enable the fractional ownership of properties, which in theory will attract more retail and institutional investors, Al Burai said.

Dubai’s real estate market recorded AED634 billion ($172 billion) in transactions last year, with the government aiming to reach AED1 trillion annually in the near future. 

This week, US president-elect Donald Trump announced a $20 billion foreign investment by Damac to build new data centres across the US.

Damac’s founder and chairman, Hussein Sajwani, told Bloomberg that the company was still finalising financing with the banks for its US data centre plan.

Last week, AGBI reported that Damac has also secured the rights to build a Trump Tower in Abu Dhabi.