The real estate industry is undergoing a digital transformation, and Dubai is at the forefront of this revolution.
In this episode of Decentralize with Cointelegraph, Amira Sajwani, managing director at Damac Properties, and John Patrick Mullin, co-founder and CEO of Mantra, discuss their $1 billion plan to tokenize real-world assets (RWAs) and reshape global property investment.
Tokenization: beyond crypto volatility
One of the biggest misconceptions about asset tokenization is its association with cryptocurrency volatility. Sajwani addresses this concern head-on:
I think a lot of people associate tokenization to the volatility of cryptocurrencies. I'd love to dispel the fact that when you're buying a tokenized asset, yes, it's on the blockchain, but your volatility is linked to the asset that is being tokenized, not the actual, let's say, currencies or crypto myths that exist in the market.
Unlike cryptocurrencies, tokenized real estate assets derive their value from physical properties, offering stability and real-world utility to investors.
Related: Crypto shows how powerful tokenizing private stocks would be — Robinhood CEO
Tokenized real estate is still in its early stages, but industry leaders believe its potential is enormous. Mullin envisions a future where trillions of dollars of real-world assets will be brought onto the blockchain:
If you're looking at the base ecosystem right now, it's still a drop in the ocean compared to where we expect this to go in the mid to long term. It's in the tens of billions. We're expecting this to go into potentially trillions of dollars of assets on chain. So we still have a very, very long way to go.
For this industry to thrive, it will require strong market participants, innovation and regulatory clarity. Mantra’s open approach to collaboration aims to accelerate adoption and competition within the space.
Real estate’s ideal use case
While various asset classes are being tokenized — from gold to fine art—Sajwani said that real estate offers the most compelling value proposition:
“I actually do really believe that real estate is the best asset as a use case for tokenization, because not only is there value behind the asset, but there's also a yield. So if you go and tokenize a bar of gold, great. Everybody has a share in that piece of gold, but they don't really benefit out of that fraction until it is sold at a premium or at an appreciation. Real estate, on the other hand, is an asset class that obviously has a yield to it.”
By enabling fractional ownership, tokenization lowers the barrier to entry for investors while providing a steady income stream through rental yields.
As Damac and Mantra push forward with their billion-dollar blueprint, the future of real estate investment is becoming more accessible, transparent and efficient. With Dubai leading the way, blockchain-powered real estate could soon become the norm, opening global investment opportunities to millions.
Listen to the full episode of Decentralize with Cointelegraph on Cointelegraph’s podcast page, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your podcast platform of choice. And don’t forget to check out Cointelegraph’s full lineup of other shows!
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