Arms & McGregor Launches MENA’s 1st Real Estate Tokenisation Platform

Dubai’s real estate consultancy firm Arms & McGregor International Realty has partnered up with Slovenian-based Blocksquare to build the MENA’s first tokenization platform, paving the way for trading, owning, and liquidating property assets through trading digital tokens.

Arms & McGregor is ambitious about the potential of the platform, looking to generate up to $5 billion in liquidity to the property market in the GCC by 2024.

With the ever-growing UAE real estate sector processing higher quantities of transactions, new regulations are frequently being introduced to boost the country’s real estate sector. Working closely with key public and private stakeholders to adopt the new platform, Arms & McGregor and Blocksquare partnership is based upon the belief that tokenization will mark the start of a new era for the real estate sector, where each property will be able to have its own ‘smart contract’. It is expected to streamline a process of property evaluation driven by open secondary markets, rather than paper-based reports.

By making transparent the history of transactions and all orders currently placed on a property, as well as, crucially, making this data available to potential buyers instantaneously upon demand, the platform gives tenants the ability to purchase 10% of a property. This can reduce the rental burden, contribute to building equity without overextending to secure a mortgage, and ultimately help them complete the purchase.

Makram Hani, the founder and CEO of Arms & McGregor International Realty, said in a press release that “the GCC real estate sector, especially in the UAE, has proved its resilience and overcame major challenges since the 2009 financial crisis and the recent pandemic.”

He continued, “with the launch of the new property tokenization platform, we aim to revolutionize the way property developers fund and sell projects; that will enable them to retain control over their projects. Property owners will also be able to sell portions of their property and liquidate the necessary rather than the whole asset.”