Saudi Arabia has taken a landmark step in the digital transformation of its real estate sector, launching what officials describe as the world’s first national-scale infrastructure for property tokenization and blockchain-based ownership transfer.
The initiative, unveiled by the Real Estate Registry (RER) under the supervision of the Real Estate General Authority (REGA), marks a decisive move toward the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 ambitions to modernise its economy and attract global investment.
The platform establishes Saudi Arabia as the first jurisdiction to embed tokenization directly into its national property registry, an undertaking that positions the country at the vanguard of efforts to integrate real estate markets with digital-asset infrastructure.
By enabling title registration, fractional ownership and marketplace connectivity on a national blockchain backbone, the system aims to create a more transparent and liquid property market open to both domestic and international investors.
SettleMint’s asset tokenization technology
The initiative moves from concept to operation through the deployment of SettleMint’s asset-tokenization technology, which forms the digital core of the new system. Built on a hybrid architecture combining RER’s legacy registry with blockchain orchestration and smart-contract layers engineered by SettleMint, the platform supports fully digital property transactions, covering listing, due diligence, valuation, escrow-linked payments and ownership transfer. Inspire for Solutions Development is leading the development of the broader marketplace interface.
- Empiric Student Property reports drop in occupancy levels
- Target Healthcare REIT: resilient portfolio yields higher dividends
- Great Portland Estates shrugs off the London property malaise
The launch marks the beginning of a multi-stage roadmap. The next phase will introduce a regulated national marketplace for tokenized property, including options for fractional investment and secondary trading.
An open API framework will allow PropTech firms, banks and developers to plug directly into RER systems, enabling services such as tokenized lending, real estate investment products and cross-border settlement of property trades.
Officials argue that the model offers a blueprint for how digital registries and capital markets can be intertwined to attract foreign direct investment and stimulate a new generation of technology-driven real estate services.
The regulatory foundations draw on international benchmarks. Developed jointly by RER and REGA, and informed by the Benchmarks to Blueprint: Comparative Framework for Property Transaction Modernization and Immutable Registry report, the framework incorporates best practices from Switzerland, Singapore, Germany, Japan and the UK. Under the model, the RER ledger serves as the definitive record of property rights, a “registry-as-truth” approach intended to strengthen legal certainty and reduce transaction friction.
Shariah-compliant fractional ownership
The platform also adheres to global interoperability standards, including W3C Verifiable Credentials and eIDAS 2.0, while incorporating Shariah-compliant fractional ownership structures already familiar in the Kingdom. Regulatory authority is split between RER, which operates the national digital register, and REGA, which oversees supervisory and data-governance protocols. The structure, officials say, balances innovation with prudence by combining blockchain transparency with sovereign oversight.
For policymakers, the project is expected to support economic diversification and capital inflows by broadening access to the Kingdom’s real estate market. Tokenization will allow investors to purchase fractional stakes in commercial, residential and mixed-use assets, potentially lowering barriers for both institutional and retail participants.
At the same time, PropTech firms will gain access to sovereign-grade digital infrastructure, with cybersecurity aligned to NCA standards and integrations with national identity and payments systems such as Absher, Nafath and mada, creating new opportunities in valuation, lending, land management and marketplace services.
“This is not a proof-of-concept,” said Adam Popat, chief executive of SettleMint. “It is a national real estate tokenization infrastructure powering national-scale operations. Saudi Arabia is now at the forefront of a global movement redefining how nations manage and transact real-world assets.”
The Kingdom’s move, he added, reflects not only technological ambition but also an effort to build the institutional trust required to support a programmable, digitised property economy.
Comments (0)