Dubai Emerges As Global Hub For On-Chain Real Estate Capital Formation With Tokinvest Launch

Tokinvest, the Dubai-based real-world asset platform regulated by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), today announced that it is launching a tokenised product in Dubai that references a global real estate asset.  This marks a significant milestone for both the company and Dubai’s evolution of tokenised property markets.

At a time when global markets continue to search for more efficient, transparent and alternate forms of capital formation, Dubai is continuing to build for the future. Through the leadership of the United Arab Emirates and the regulatory clarity of the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Dubai has created one of the first credible frameworks capable of supporting real-world asset tokenisation at scale.

The Tokinvest product references a multi-tenant UK build to rent property asset with an aggregate value of approximately AED 40 million. The transaction represents an important step in bringing institutional-grade international real estate on-chain through a regulated framework built in Dubai.

The launch demonstrates how that vision can move from policy into practice: connecting high-quality global real estate assets with a modern, digital capital markets infrastructure under clear regulatory oversight.

Scott Thiel, CEO & Co-Founder of Tokinvest, said:

“Dubai has created the regulatory foundations for a new era of capital formation. What VARA and the UAE have built is not just a framework for digital assets, but the beginnings of a global hub for on-chain finance backed by real-world assets.”

“It is exactly why I moved to Dubai and why we established Tokinvest as a regulated issuer and broker in the UAE. We believed the future of capital formation would be built in a jurisdiction willing to combine ambition, regulatory credibility and global relevance – and Dubai has done exactly that.”

The product is significant not only for Tokinvest, but for the global real estate sector and Dubai’s leading role in it.  Global demand for tokenised real estate continues to grow as investors and asset owners seek better access, greater efficiency, ownership structures and new distribution channels beyond traditional market infrastructure.   Dubai’s regulatory architecture is now placing the UAE at the centre of that shift.

As a regulated VASP, Tokinvest’s first product which references offshore real estate reflects the growing role of Dubai as a launchpad for international asset origination, structuring and distribution.

John Heath, Director, Great Hampton Street Button Works, said:

“This project brings together the enduring value of a historic UK property asset with the forward-looking financial infrastructure now emerging from Dubai. It is a powerful example of how real estate can be made more globally accessible through tokenisation, while still being anchored in a credible, regulated environment.”

“For us, this is not only about one property. It is about participating in a new model for how quality real estate assets can connect with international pools of capital.”

The Great Hampton Street Button Works was originally constructed in 1872 as a button factory and has since been restored and converted into 29 residential apartments, preserving its Grade II listed heritage while creating a high-quality residential asset in one of Birmingham’s best-known districts. The transaction brings a heritage-rich UK property into a modern, regulated on-chain issuance framework from Dubai.

The product is part of Tokinvest’s wider strategy to originate and support regulated tokenised real-world asset opportunities from Dubai, across real estate and other asset classes, using blockchain-based infrastructure to modernise the way capital is formed, distributed and serviced.

As the UAE continues to invest in the infrastructure of the future, tokenisation is increasingly becoming part of that story. It’s a practical evolution in how ownership, investment access and capital markets may operate in the years ahead.