Today's Edition
ISIDORA CIRIC (ABU DHABI)
The UAE's second tokenised property listing fully sold out in one minute and 58 seconds on Wednesday, confirming the country's growing appetite for digital real estate ownership. The apartment, listed on PRYPCO Mint, drew in 149 investors from 35 nationalities and pushed the platform's waitlist to more than 10,700.
Launched on June 11, the one-bedroom apartment in Dubai's upscale Kensington Waters, Mohammed Bin Rashid City, was listed at Dh1.5 million, below its estimated market value of Dh1.875 million. The discounted price gave investors an immediate equity advantage, with shares available for as little as Dh2,000.
The launch is part of a broader Real Estate Tokenisation Initiative by the Dubai Land Department (DLD), aimed at making property ownership quicker and more accessible.
Unlike traditional real estate investment, tokenised property allows buyers to own digital shares in a physical property. The concept is simple: instead of buying an entire apartment, investors purchase fractional shares - represented as digital tokens - linked to a real, registered property in Dubai. These shares are issued on blockchain infrastructure and represent a portion of the underlying asset, which can then be bought, sold, or held.
This model lowers the barrier to entry and opens up the property market to a more diverse group of investors, including first-time buyers and tech-savvy millennials. Currently, the platform is available to UAE residents holding valid Emirates IDs, though it is expected to open access to international investors in future phases.
All transactions on the PRYPCO Mint platform are carried out in UAE dirhams, with no cryptocurrencies accepted during the pilot phase. Investors receive official Property Token Ownership Certificates issued by the DLD, providing a layer of formal recognition and regulatory assurance.
The Kensington Waters sale follows the success of PRYPCO Mint's debut property, a two-bedroom apartment in Business Bay listed on May 25. Valued at Dh2.4 million - below its DLD valuation of Dh2.89 million - the offering was fully funded in under 24 hours by 224 investors from over 40 countries, with an average contribution of Dh10,714.
In a statement preceding the second launch, Amira Sajwani, Founder and CEO of PRYPCO, said the strong uptake is proof of a growing appetite for alternative real estate models.
"The incredible response to our first tokenised property proved that investors are ready for a smarter, more accessible way to invest in real estate. With our second property, we're continuing to break down traditional barriers and offer high-quality opportunities to a broader, more diverse audience," he said on Tuesday.
Behind the scenes, the initiative is supported by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the UAE Central Bank and the Dubai Future Foundation. It operates under the Real Estate Sandbox, a framework designed to enable innovators to test their products, services, and business models under adaptive regulatory supervision. Zand Bank serves as the official banking partner, while blockchain infrastructure is managed by Ctrl Alt, using the XRP Ledger.
