Dubai’s VARA Warns of Firms Falsely Claiming to Be Part of Real Estate Tokenization Pilot

VARA did not name any firms that were claiming unauthorized affiliation with the Real World Assets project.

By Sam Reynolds|Edited by Parikshit Mishra

Updated Apr 24, 2025, 11:40 a.m. Published Apr 24, 2025, 11:32 a.m.

What to know:

Dubai's crypto regulator has warned against firms falsely claiming involvement in a real estate tokenization pilot.
The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority emphasized that only approved entities are authorized to participate in the initiative.
The warning comes ahead of the Token 2049 conference.

Dubai’s crypto regulator has issued an alert, warning of firms falsely claiming to be part of the city’s high-profile real estate tokenization pilot, saying that such misrepresentation may violate the emirate’s virtual asset laws.

The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), in coordination with the Dubai Land Department (DLD), said on Tuesday that several entities have improperly suggested they are participating in the DLD’s blockchain-based property title deed initiative, which launched as a limited pilot on March 19.

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“No entities beyond those explicitly approved by DLD and VARA are authorised to participate,” the regulator said. “Any entity promoting their involvement in the project without formal confirmation… is misrepresenting their status.”

VARA did not name any firms in the release.

The tokenization initiative could account for 7% of all property deals, valued at 60 billion dirhams ($16 billion), by 2033, CoinDesk previously reported, as part of the city’s broader push to position itself as a global tech and digital asset hub.

This warning from VARA comes days before Token 2049 kicks off in the city. Earlier in March, on-chain investigator ZachXBT pointed out that the conference tends to attract a disproportionate amount of scams.

Dubai Vara

Sam Reynolds

Sam Reynolds is a senior reporter based in Asia. Sam was part of the CoinDesk team that won the 2023 Gerald Loeb award in the breaking news category for coverage of FTX's collapse. Prior to CoinDesk, he was a reporter with Blockworks and a semiconductor analyst with IDC.