Dubai Partners with Ripple, Ctrl Alt to Tokenize Real Estate on XRP Ledger

Under the agreement, Ctrl Alt will leverage Ripple’s institutional-grade custody infrastructure to securely store tokenized property title deeds issued by the DLD on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). This infrastructure underpins the end-to-end life cycle management of fractionalized real estate titles, a critical component of the DLD’s Real Estate Tokenization Project. Reece Merrick, Ripple’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, emphasized the significance, saying, “This is the first time a government real estate registration authority in the Middle East has tokenized property title deeds on a public blockchain—and the DLD has chosen the XRPL.”

The move positions Ctrl Alt as Ripple’s first major custody partner in the UAE, cementing Ripple’s status as a trusted provider of regulated digital asset infrastructure in the region.

Launched earlier this year under the DLD’s Real Estate Evolution Space (REES) initiative, this pilot project tokenizes title deeds on the XRP Ledger, enabling fractional property investment via Ctrl Alt’s PRYPCO Mint platform. UAE ID holders can invest starting from approximately USD 545 (AED 2,000), lowering the barrier to entry for real estate ownership. The system also features built-in synchronization with the traditional property registry, ensuring that digital and legal records remain fully aligned in real time, crucial for maintaining legal certainty and investor protection.

The DLD estimates that tokenized real estate assets could reach approximately USD 16 billion (AED 60 billion) by 2033, representing about 7% of Dubai’s annual property transaction volume. Matt Ong, Ctrl Alt’s Founder and CEO, highlighted the platform’s inclusive approach, stating that they have been working closely with the DLD to bring real estate investment to a broader audience. He emphasized Dubai’s embrace of next-generation finance as truly world-class. Notably, the tokenized assets operate in UAE dirhams, not cryptocurrency, providing familiarity and regulatory assurance for local investors.

Multiple analysts have noted that the XRPL was chosen for this initiative over other blockchains like Bitcoin due to several core advantages. The XRPL can confirm transactions in just 3 to 5 seconds, compared to Bitcoin’s confirmation times of 10 minutes or longer. This speed is critical in high-frequency environments such as property marketplaces. Additionally, XRPL’s transaction fees are a fraction of a cent, making it suitable for handling high volumes of microtransactions efficiently. Finally, the XRPL has a proven track record of reliability, having processed millions of transactions over more than a decade with minimal downtime or disruption.

RippleX, the development arm of Ripple, described the project as a “massive milestone for Dubai’s real estate market,” citing XRPL’s long-standing reliability in supporting the issuance and exchange of both digital and real-world assets. The firm emphasized that the platform’s decentralization and performance make it an ideal foundation for this type of government-backed program.

This partnership builds on Ripple’s broader expansion in the Gulf region. The company received regulatory approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) earlier this year, enabling it to offer payments, custody, and stablecoin services in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Ripple has also entered partnerships with UAE-based fintech companies including Zand Bank and Mamo. Additionally, its RLUSD stablecoin recently received DIFC approval. Ripple established its Dubai office in 2020 and now counts more than 20% of its global customer base in the region. Local regulatory clarity, including the DFSA’s licensing framework and the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority’s (VARA) authorization of Ctrl Alt as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP), has fostered a welcoming environment for digital asset innovation.

The collaboration between Ripple and Ctrl Alt exemplifies how public blockchain infrastructure can be used to support government-regulated real-world asset tokenization. It represents one of the first large-scale, government-grade applications of property deed tokenization in the Middle East. If successful, the project could serve as a global template for how public and private sectors can partner to digitize and manage real-world assets securely, transparently, and efficiently.

The DLD has also indicated that PRYPCO Mint will soon open to non-resident investors, allowing global buyers to participate in Dubai’s real estate market through fractionalized, tokenized investments. Additional property platforms are expected to integrate into the system in the coming months, further expanding its reach and utility.

Dubai’s Real Estate Tokenization Project marks a pioneering step in merging government property registries with public blockchain custody infrastructure. Ripple and Ctrl Alt’s collaboration not only reinforces the UAE’s role as a global hub for digital asset regulation but may also pave the way for asset tokenization at scale, transforming access to investment and reshaping conventional financial systems.