Dubai launches secondary market for trading tokenized real estate

Dubai Land Department (DLD), the government’s department for real estate in the UAE, has moved forward with its tokenization initiative by launching the secondary market starting February 20, 2026.

The launch will allow the resale of approximately 7.8 million real estate tokens within a controlled pilot framework aimed at assessing market efficiency, testing operational readiness, enhancing transparency and governance, and safeguarding investors’ rights while ensuring transaction integrity.

This is considered to be phase II of the Real Estate Tokenization Project, within a regulated model.

DLD Phase I included the launch of tokenized deeds and sales with Prypco Mint

It follows the first stage, where DLD launched the Real Estate Innovation Initiative with Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and strategic partners.

During the pilot phase, the regulatory, legislative, and technical frameworks for real estate tokenization on title deeds were tested. DLD emphasized in their announcement that tokenized assets would represent up to 7% of Dubai’s real estate market by 2033, equivalent to $16 billion, and that Prypco Mint will be at the cornerstone of this transformation.

In May 2025, after the launch of PRYPCO Mint, the first licensed real estate tokenization platform, in partnership with Dubai Land Department, Dubai’s Regulatory Authority, and powered by Ctrl Alt blockchain, the region’s first property token ownership certificate was issued.

By July 2025, PRYPCO Mint, MENA’s first real estate tokenization platform, in the funding of its latest Park Ridge Tower C, located in Dubai Hills, valued at $653,000, attracted the highest number of investors, a total of 326, for a single property with an average investment of $2,000.

The Park Ridge Tower C offered investors an estimated 14.39% instant appreciation, funded by 326 investors from 51 nationalities. Almost 50% of those investors were returning ones.

Dubai commits to future improvements

In this recent press release, DLD noted that this phase is a preparatory one, giving regulatory authorities the data needed to make future decisions grounded in operational data. This approach strengthens the confidence of local and international investors.

DLD will continue to work with VARA and add additional platforms in the future. Already, for example, UAE-based Stake, a digital real estate investment platform that offers fractional investment and investment in real estate funds, has received an in-principle approval from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, under the name Stake RWA.