Dubai Land Department teams up with Crypto.com on digital real estate investment plan

Move brings emirate a step closer to the buying and selling of property with cryptocurrencies

The Dubai Land Department and Crypto.com deal seeks to create digital ecosystem that enables investor verification, custody, settlement and real estate tokenisation. Antonie Robertson/The National

Dubai Land Department has signed an agreement with Crypto.com to develop procedures that support digital real estate transactions, enabling investors to buy and sell property using digital currencies.

The collaboration, which seeks to create a digital ecosystem that enables investor verification, custody, settlement and real estate tokenisation, supports the Dubai Real Estate Strategy 2033 and its Dh1 trillion ($272 billion) transaction target.

Dubai Land Department signs agreement with Crypto.com to develop digital investment environment for virtual real estate assets. Photo: Handout

The agreement was signed by Omar BuShahab, director general of the Dubai Land Department, and Mohamed Al Hakim, the authorised signatory for Crypto.com, in the presence of officials from both sides, the Dubai Media Office said on Sunday.

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“By embracing advanced technologies, Dubai is strengthening its attractiveness for high-quality investments and accelerating its progress towards its Dh1 trillion real estate transactions target for 2033,” the media office said. The partnership aims to develop mechanisms that support digital real estate transactions by “leveraging blockchain technologies and virtual assets”, it added.

“The initiative seeks to enhance market liquidity and align with modern trends in smart investment. The partnership also aspires to build an integrated digital ecosystem that enables real estate asset trading, investor verification, and the execution of digital custody and settlement processes within a secure and advanced framework,” the media office said.

Dubai has been accelerating the adoption of digital currencies as it looks to regulate the sector. In October last year, officials unveiled a strategy hoping to make 90 per cent of all transactions cashless by 2026.

Sunday’s move follows the announcement in May of plans to enable the payment of government fees using digital currencies in support of the Dubai Cashless Strategy. It plans to introduce a new digital payment channel across its official platforms.

In an April interview with The National, Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, said that the $1 billion Trump International Hotel and Tower project in Dubai would accept crypo investments.

The project “is going to be the first truly large-scale project that accepts Bitcoin, that accepts cryptocurrency to purchase units … I believe in cryptocurrency”, he said at the time.

“It's the financial mechanism of the future … it’s still in its infancy, but the growth has been explosive,” he added. Real estate and cryptocurrencies are “credible hedges for one another”, he said.

The partnership between the Dubai Land Department and Crypto.com seeks to create digital ecosystem that enables investor verification, custody, settlement and real estate tokenisation. In March, Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project, aimed at converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology.

Dubai is also launching a scheme to support first-time investors to enter the emirate's property market by teaming up with developers and banks, the department said earlier this month.

As part of the alliance, the department will explore the potential use of platforms and technological solutions proposed by Crypto.com in areas such as real estate tokenisation and the trading of digital assets, the media office statement said. The department will also provide the administrative and logistical support on joint projects.

Meanwhile, Crypto.com will propose technological solutions so that digital currencies can be used in the real estate sector, provide technical support and advisory services, as well as deliver analytical tools and reports for digital projects. The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange will supply all required technical and legal documentation and obtain the necessary approvals from the relevant authorities.