Idealist Real Estate Enters Strategic Crypto-Enabled Development With Citi Developers At Blockchain Life 2025
Idealist Real Estate, the Dubai-based luxury property company, has entered a strategic partnership with Citi Developers to integrate institutional-grade crypto payment technology into real estate transactions, through Xerime DMCC, reinforcing Dubai’s positioning as the most advanced regulated jurisdiction for virtual assets globally.
Xerime DMCC’s approach to real estate and digital assets is built on proprietary trading, where the company uses only its own capital. This eliminates the need for client custody or third-party intermediaries, ensuring every transaction remains fully transparent and straightforward.
This marks the first real estate–crypto collaboration unveiled at Blockchain Life Forum which is aligned with the UAE’s national digital economy agenda.
The partnership arrives at a defining moment as global capital increasingly migrates from legacy jurisdictions toward markets offering regulatory clarity. According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, digital asset trading volumes in Dubai have exceeded AED 2.5 trillion since the beginning of this year, with over 1,000+ institutions licensed under VARA; making Dubai the world’s largest regulated virtual asset market.
Dubai’s leadership has consistently emphasised its long-term ambition to become the world’s most advanced digital economy. In line with the UAE’s Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority framework established under HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, this collaboration sets a new global benchmark demonstrating how real estate, one of the world’s most valuable asset classes, can intersect with regulated digital finance.
“ The UAE has the golden standard in real estate and my company truly integrates new technologies such as blockchain and crypto currencies and works only with licensed companies such as Xerime DMCC and Citi Developers who have years of trust. Idealist – is about ideal opportunities for clients to invest in the strong economy of UAE. We invest – in what we trust,” said Alexey Gorbachev, CEO & Founder of Idealist Real Estate and partner of Xerime DMCC, the crypto proprietary trading company powering the collaboration.Citi Developers’ flagship project, Amra, will become the first luxury development in Dubai engineered from inception to support instant.Citi Developers brings 25 years of development experience across Pakistan, the UK, and the UAE, with three completed projects in Dubai — Arya, Agua, and Allura — and is currently developing a new wellness resort in Umm Al Quwain called “Amra.”
According to VARA, Dubai has already processed over AED 2.5 trillion (USD 680 billion) in fully regulated virtual asset transactions since the start of 2025. Deloitte projects that tokenised real estate alone could exceed USD 4 trillion by 2035, signalling one of the largest shifts in global asset infrastructure.
“What we are building is not a payment feature but a financial infrastructure,” said Grigory Rybalchenko, CEO of Xerime DMCC. “Global wealth is already moving on-chain, and Dubai is the first jurisdiction to create a truly regulated environment for it. With this collaboration, we are proving that real estate, the world’s most valuable asset class, can now be transacted with the same security, speed and transparency as digital finance.”
Xerime operation on deploying its own capital allows appropriately licensed partners within its ecosystem to offer innovations such as smart-contract escrow, compliant tokenized ownership and embedded financial services to global investors; all while Xerime itself does not provide custody or exchange services.
“Dubai continues to attract the world’s most sophisticated capital and talent by ensuring that innovation is always matched with regulation. Integrations like this represent the real evolution of the digital economy — where infrastructure is made truly usable at an institutional level,” said Zoraiz Malik of Citi Developers. “Amra is not an experiment, it is a direct response to where elite global capital is already moving.”
The unveiling will take place at the 15th Anniversary Blockchain Life Forum on October 28–29, 2025,one of the world’s largest events for cryptocurrencies, Web3 and digital assets, expected to welcome over 15,000 attendees and global market leaders. Idealist Real Estate’s Alexey Gorbachev will host a forum session titled “How real estate: both developers and real estate agencies should use new technology in blockchain and crypto,” reinforcing the UAE’s stance on innovation with accountability.
On October 30, a private, invitation-only afterparty at Zenon Restaurant, which officially allows payment using crypto will follow the announcement, gathering global investors, strategic partners and ecosystem leaders shaping the future of asset-backed digital finance.
The information in this press release is for general informational purposes only. All activities are conducted in compliance with DMCC proprietary trading license and VARA regulations. Xerime DMCC does not provide custody, wallet, or exchange services for third parties.
