Ripple has announced a strategic partnership with Ctrl Alt to run Dubai’s real estate tokenization initiative.
Blockchain payments company Ripple Labs has made a significant move in Dubai’s real estate market. The San Francisco-based firm partnered with tokenization infrastructure startup Ctrl Alt to deliver custodial services for tokenized title deeds in the United Arab Emirates region.
Ripple’s Further Expansion in Dubai with Real Estate Tokenization
In May, Dubai debuted the first-of-its-kind tokenized real estate initiative, which offers investors the opportunity to buy tokenized shares of high-value properties in the region. Notably, this initiative lowers the barrier of entry for these high-value properties, providing investors with access for as little as $600.
Available properties in this category are in Downtown, Palm Jumeirah, and Dubai South. Markedly, each offering is being split into 1,000–10,000 tokens. At the same time, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) decided to utilize the XRP Ledger (XRPL) as the blockchain infrastructure for its inaugural Real Estate Tokenization Project.
This marked the introduction of new use cases for XRP, the coin associated with Ripple. Also, Ctrl Alt was announced as the tokenization partner for DLD, with the responsibility of pioneering the real estate project. It had just received the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) at the time. The tokenization firm later confirmed its role in the real estate project in July.
Amidst these agreements, Ctrl Alt has now bagged the position of Ripple’s first custody client in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Based on the announcement, Ctrl Alt will use “Ripple’s institutional-grade digital asset custody technology to support the Dubai Land Department’s (DLD) pioneering Real Estate Tokenization Project by delivering scalable and secure storage for Dubai’s tokenized real estate title deeds, which are being issued on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).”
Ripple and Its Products in Dubai
Before this real estate tokenization initiative, Ripple had established a strong presence in Dubai. In 2024, the payments company received in-principle approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). This license enables the firm to legally expand its services within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
Notably, this milestone reinforced Ripple’s global footprint as a regulated crypto service provider. It is worth noting that it was the first blockchain-enabled payment services provider licensed by the DFSA, the independent financial services regulator, to conduct business in or from the DIFC.
In June, the DFSA officially recognized Ripple USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD as a legitimate crypto token. By securing this approval, Ripple gets the opportunity to integrate its enterprise-grade stablecoin into its DFSA-licensed payment solutions. Moreover, the Dubai regulator sets a precedent for other jurisdictions to consider similar integrations.
This situation could accelerate the adoption of RLUSD and XRP, as well as the broader global integration of cryptocurrencies. Already, RLUSD has secured a position on the biggest crypto exchanges, including Bitget, Gemini, Kraken, and Bitstamp, among others. Ultimately, the move supports Dubai’s vision of becoming a global hub for digital assets.
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