Ripple & Ctrl Alt Revolutionize Dubai Real Estate: Tokenized Assets Hit XRP Ledger

Dubai’s skyline just got a blockchain upgrade. Ripple teams up with Ctrl Alt to anchor the city’s tokenized real estate market on the XRP Ledger—because nothing says 'future-proof' like putting property deeds on a decentralized database.

Why This Matters

Forget paper contracts and notary stamps. The partnership slashes settlement times from days to seconds while giving investors a frictionless way to trade fractional ownership. Ctrl Alt’s compliance tech handles the regulatory heavy lifting, leaving Ripple’s ledger to do what it does best: move value at the speed of the internet.

The Finance Angle

Banks are already sweating. Tokenization could unlock $1.4 trillion in illiquid real estate assets globally—if traditional gatekeepers don’t strangle it in red tape first. (Spoiler: They’ll try.)

Bottom Line

Dubai’s playing to win the digital asset race. Meanwhile, Wall Street’s still figuring out how to spell 'blockchain.'

Ripple Expands Custody Network Across Global Markets

The collaboration reflects growing demand across the region for secure and compliant digital asset infrastructure.

Ripple’s custody network now spans Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, serving an expanding client base.

“This is the first time a government real estate registration authority in the Middle East has tokenized property title deeds on a public blockchain,” Reece Merrick, Ripple’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, said.

“That the DLD has chosen the XRPL for this is really exciting and reinforces the XRPL’s credentials as the blockchain of choice for serious financial use cases.”

Ctrl Alt recently secured its VIRTUAL Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), becoming the first authorized entity to provide issuer-related services in the UAE.

This regulatory approval enables a fully compliant tokenization process, covering asset issuance, secure custody, on-chain settlement, and lifecycle management.

The DLD project marks a key milestone in asset tokenization and property investment, enabling fractional ownership and greater market transparency.

In partnership with Ctrl Alt and the Dubai @Land_Department, Ripple Custody will deliver scalable and secure storage for the Dubai Land Department’s tokenized real estate title deeds, which have been issued on the XRP Ledger – enabling fractional ownership, transparency, and…

Dubai continues its push to make real estate more accessible and efficient, attracting a wider pool of investors.

Since becoming the first blockchain-enabled payments provider licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) earlier this year, Ripple has strengthened its presence in the UAE.

The company has forged partnerships with Zand Bank and Mamo, and its stablecoin RLUSD gained DFSA recognition for use within the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Ripple has more than 60 regulatory licenses worldwide.

Bergen County to Tokenize $240B in Property Deeds

In May, Bergen County, New Jersey’s largest county by population, struck a five-year deal with Balcony to tokenize 370,000 property deeds on the Avalanche blockchain, covering an estimated $240 billion in real estate.

This marks the biggest deed tokenization effort in U.S. history and is backed by Avalanche-focused venture fund Blizzard.

Home to nearly one million residents and generating $500 million yearly in property taxes, Bergen County aims to modernize land record management and speed up deed processing through blockchain integration.

A report by the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) and Boston Consulting Group estimates the global value of tokenized illiquid assets will reach $16 trillion by 2030.

Even more conservative estimates from Citigroup suggest that $4 trillion to $5 trillion worth of tokenized digital securities could be minted by 2030.

Recognizing this potential, major companies are making significant moves in the tokenization space.

Goldman Sachs, for instance, plans to launch three new tokenization products, driven by growing client interest.