Saudi Arabia Vision 2030 and Open‑Source Real Estate Tokenisation

Introduction

Saudi Arabia is rewriting how property changes hands. Between 2025 and early 2026, the Kingdom moved from paper‑based real estate ownership to a national blockchain‑backed registry that natively supports fractional and tokenised property interests. This transformation is not an isolated experiment—it is a direct manifestation of Saudi Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s ambitious economic diversification and digital transformation agenda.

At the heart of this shift is a “registry‑as‑truth” model: the national Real Estate Registry (RER) serves as the conclusive record of property rights, with tokenised ownership interests embedded directly into the registry itself. For global investors, developers, and technology providers, this creates an unprecedented opportunity to participate in one of the world’s largest real estate pipelines under a clear, sovereign‑led regulatory framework.

The open‑source SQMU standard—where 1 token equals 1 verified square metre—aligns naturally with Saudi Arabia’s emphasis on measurement precision, transparency, and regulatory compliance. Built on auditable ERC‑1155 smart contracts, SQMU provides a flexible, transparent foundation that can be adapted to the Kingdom’s unique legal and technical requirements. This article explores how SQMU and similar open‑source protocols can support Saudi Arabia’s real estate tokenisation ambitions while respecting the Kingdom’s sovereign governance and Shariah‑compliant asset structures. For a comprehensive regulatory analysis, refer to the Saudi Arabia real estate tokenisation guide.

Vision 2030: The Strategic Impetus for Tokenisation

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is a national blueprint for economic diversification, aiming to reduce the Kingdom’s reliance on oil revenues and build a dynamic, globally integrated economy. Real estate is a central pillar of this strategy, with a development pipeline exceeding $1 trillion, driven by megaprojects such as NEOM, The Red Sea, Diriyah Gate, the Riyadh metro expansion, and the Rise Tower. Majed bin Abdullah Al‑Hogail, Saudi Minister of Municipalities and Housing, has stated unequivocally: “Saudi Arabia is building a real estate sector that is digital by design, integrating PropTech and AI across planning and delivery in line with Vision 2030.”

Tokenisation serves as the technical backbone of this digital transformation. By converting illiquid physical assets into programmable, highly liquid digital instruments, the Kingdom aims to:

Expand investor participation, including foreign direct investment (FDI), by lowering minimum investment thresholds.
Improve liquidity through regulated secondary trading platforms.
Accelerate development financing by enabling fractional capital raising.
Enhance transparency through immutable, tamper‑proof ownership records.

The market for tokenised real estate is already gaining momentum. Valued at $96 million in 2024, it is projected to surge to $440 million by 2030, driven by government‑led initiatives and increasing institutional appetite.

The National Tokenisation Infrastructure: A Global First

On 20 November 2025, the Real Estate Registry (RER), under the supervision of the Real Estate General Authority (REGA), officially launched the Kingdom’s national infrastructure for property tokenisation and digital ownership transfer. This initiative establishes Saudi Arabia as the first country in the world to deploy a national‑scale blockchain infrastructure dedicated to real estate registration, fractionalisation, and marketplace integration.

Key Components of the Infrastructure

Component	Description
Real Estate Registry (RER)	Operates the qualified digital property register as the single source of truth.
Real Estate General Authority (REGA)	Defines supervisory and data‑governance standards for the real estate market.
SettleMint’s Digital Asset Lifecycle Platform (DALP)	Provides the production‑grade blockchain stack, smart contracts, and secure integration layers.
Hybrid Architecture	Combines RER’s core registry services with blockchain orchestration for end‑to‑end digital transactions.

The system forms the technological backbone for a next‑generation property marketplace, integrating blockchain‑based title management, automated valuation models (AVMs), escrow‑linked payment verification, and fractional ownership capabilities that enable new forms of property investment and financing.

Three‑Phase Roadmap

The initiative follows a structured rollout:

Phase I – National Tokenised Registry (Complete): Establishing the digital property register as the authoritative source of ownership.
Phase II – National Tokenised Marketplace (Underway): Enabling buying, selling, and fractional investment under supervised frameworks.
Phase III – Open API Framework (Planned): Allowing PropTechs, banks, and developers to integrate directly with RER systems to build new digital services, from tokenised lending and real estate investment products to digital escrow and cross‑border property transactions.

This three‑tier roadmap positions Saudi Arabia as a global reference point for how digital registries, capital markets, and tokenisation frameworks can converge to attract FDI and enable world‑leading PropTech innovation.

The 66‑Second Transaction: A Sovereign‑Native Milestone

In February 2026, Saudi Arabia achieved a global milestone: the successful execution of the world’s first sovereign‑native tokenised property title deed transfer. The transaction, executed between the National Housing Company (NHC) and the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF), involved the creation of a digital property deed, transfer of ownership, and title settlement recorded on a sovereign ledger—all completed in 66 seconds. The infrastructure reduces property settlement times from days to seconds, converting traditionally illiquid real estate assets into programmable, highly liquid instruments.

Crucially, this was not a simulated environment or a sandbox—it was a production transaction, with government entities as live participants and RER as the source of truth. Compliance requirements were embedded directly into the transaction logic itself, with settlement completed securely and simultaneously through a stable delivery‑versus‑payment mechanism.

Faisal Al‑Monai, CEO of droppRWA, the infrastructure provider, explained the significance: “The end‑to‑end infrastructure used to execute this historic transaction, including the token standard, settlement rails, compliance logic, issuance framework and the stable delivery‑versus‑payment mechanism, was provided exclusively through droppRWA’s sovereign‑grade infrastructure. Our goal is to help Saudi skip the ‘digital wrapper’ era other markets are currently stuck in by entirely embedding enforceability into the asset at the source, creating a new category of sovereign‑grade assets.”

Regulatory Framework: From Sandbox to Structured Market

Saudi Arabia’s regulatory approach is methodical and multi‑layered. Unlike jurisdictions that have adopted a single, overarching digital asset law, the Kingdom has developed a framework that integrates existing securities, property, and financial regulations with new tokenisation‑specific rules.

The Real Estate General Authority (REGA)

REGA is the primary regulator for the real estate sector. It has launched a Regulatory Sandbox—a flagship initiative under the Saudi PropTech Hub—that allows companies to test innovative real estate solutions within a controlled environment for a defined period. The second edition of the sandbox introduces several tracks, including a fractional ownership pathway under the real estate tokenisation framework, intended to pilot new investment and financing mechanisms that can expand property supply and improve asset utilisation.

Nine technology firms have been approved to tokenise real estate and sell digital shares within REGA’s sandbox. These platforms have since met regulatory requirements and are now operating officially in the market, marking early validation of the initiative’s approach.

The Capital Market Authority (CMA)

Critically, in Saudi Arabia, tokenised real estate interests are treated as securities under the purview of the Capital Market Authority. Legal experts emphasise: “In Saudi Arabia, there is no such thing as a ‘property token.’ There are only: securities.” If investors receive ownership, rental income, appreciation exposure, or profit participation, the token falls under securities regulation. This means tokenisation projects are legally treated like fund issuances, debt offerings, or equity placements—not fintech experiments.

Every compliant real estate security token offering in Saudi Arabia follows the same blueprint: the property sits inside an SPV (isolating risk and protecting investors); the tokenised shares are classified as securities under CMA rules; and the offering must comply with prospectus or exemption requirements.

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)

SAMA oversees the broader digital asset ecosystem, including stablecoin regulation and the integration of digital assets into the Kingdom’s financial system. SAMA has also appointed a dedicated head for crypto and digital assets, signalling a structured approach to institutional adoption. The Saudi Central Bank has also played a role in shaping the regulatory landscape for digital assets, working in coordination with CMA and REGA.

The “Registry‑as‑Truth” Model

Unlike tokenisation models in other jurisdictions—where tokens represent shares in an SPV that holds the property, creating a gap between digital ownership and statutory title—Saudi Arabia’s model eliminates this layer. As the droppRWA CEO explained: “In Saudi Arabia’s model, the registry serves as the legal source of truth, eliminating any separation between digital ownership and statutory title. When the token moves, the legal title moves. There is no gap between the digital record and the legal reality.”

This “registry‑as‑truth” model has profound implications for legal certainty, enforceability, and investor confidence—particularly for cross‑border capital.

Foreign Investment Reforms: Opening the Market

In a parallel development, Saudi Arabia has opened its real estate market to foreign investors. Starting January 2026, foreigners are now permitted to buy and own property in specifically approved zones across the country. This policy shift, part of Vision 2030’s economic diversification plan, is designed to attract international capital and enhance liquidity.

When combined with tokenisation, these reforms create a powerful proposition: global investors can now acquire fractional ownership in Saudi real estate assets through regulated tokenised offerings, with clear legal title and the ability to trade on secondary markets. The national infrastructure is explicitly designed to enable “regulated tokenization, [where] investors from around the world will gain access to (fractional) Saudi real estate assets—from commercial developments to residential portfolios—opening new investment channels.”

How Open‑Source Standards Like SQMU Align with Saudi’s Vision

The SQMU standard—where 1 token equals 1 verified square metre—was developed to provide a transparent, auditable, and jurisdiction‑neutral foundation for real estate tokenisation. Its design principles align closely with Saudi Arabia’s regulatory and technical requirements.

Transparency and Auditability

SQMU’s open‑source smart contracts allow regulators, auditors, and investors to inspect the code and verify that total supply matches the certified area of the property, that no hidden minting functions exist, and that compliance controls (e.g., whitelist, transfer restrictions) are correctly implemented. This aligns with REGA’s emphasis on transparent ownership and RER’s role as the single source of truth.

Per‑Square‑Metre Determinism

Saudi property title deeds specify the exact area of each unit in square metres. By anchoring each token to a verified square metre, the SQMU standard eliminates the abstraction of arbitrary share counts and makes the token’s value intuitively tied to the property’s per‑square‑metre valuation. This mirrors the logic already embedded in the national infrastructure, where tokens represent directly linked fractions of a property’s title.

Modular Compliance

The SQMU contracts can be configured with whitelist controls, transfer restrictions, and other compliance features required by CMA and REGA. For offerings limited to accredited investors or subject to lock‑up periods, the smart contract can enforce these rules automatically, reducing administrative burden.

Shariah‑Compliant Structuring

The Saudi framework explicitly incorporates Shariah‑compliant asset structures, leveraging the existing fractional ownership model in Saudi Arabia. SQMU’s open‑source nature allows developers to add Shariah‑specific compliance modules, such as ensuring that rental income distribution and capital gains treatment follow Islamic finance principles.

EVM Flexibility

Saudi Arabia’s national infrastructure is built on a hybrid architecture that includes EVM‑compatible layers. SQMU’s deployment on Arbitrum and Base—and its compatibility with any EVM chain—means that tokenised Saudi assets could potentially interact with global decentralised finance (DeFi) ecosystems, while still maintaining sovereignty and regulatory control at the registry level.

The RWA Tokenisation Center of Excellence

In January 2026, Open World Ltd. announced the establishment of Saudi Arabia’s first RWA (Real‑World Asset) Tokenisation Center of Excellence in Al Khobar. The centre operates as a fully licensed in‑Kingdom entity designed to accelerate compliant digital asset innovation for sovereign, enterprise, and institutional clients.

The centre will enable compliant tokenisation of real‑world assets, including energy infrastructure, tokenised carbon reduction credits, real estate, sovereign bonds and, over time, regulated stablecoins. These initiatives will be launched on Open World’s sovereign and national‑scale tokenisation infrastructure, providing Saudi enterprises and government entities new pathways to access global capital markets while maintaining full regulatory compliance with SAMA and CMA requirements.

For open‑source protocols like SQMU, the Centre of Excellence represents a potential integration point: a place where global standards can be evaluated against Saudi regulatory requirements and adapted for local deployment.

Future Outlook: A Digital Real Estate Market by 2030

The trajectory is clear. Saudi Arabia is not merely experimenting with tokenisation; it is building a national‑scale digital infrastructure that will underpin the real estate sector for decades to come. The three‑phase roadmap, combined with regulatory sandboxes, foreign investment reforms, and institutional backing, points toward a fully digitised real estate market by the end of the decade.

Key developments to watch include:

Formal regulations for real estate tokenisation are expected to be issued around June 2026, as announced at the Real Estate Future Forum.
Secondary trading platforms are in development, which could fundamentally change real estate from a static, long‑hold asset class into a dynamic, price‑discoverable market.
Stablecoin integration is under consideration, with the potential to provide fiat‑on‑ramp and settlement rails for tokenised transactions.
Cross‑border interoperability with other Gulf jurisdictions (Dubai, Qatar) may emerge, creating a regional architecture for digital property rights.

Conclusion

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has catalysed one of the most ambitious real estate tokenisation initiatives in the world. By embedding tokenised ownership directly into the national land registry, the Kingdom has created a “registry‑as‑truth” model that eliminates the gap between digital and legal title—a model that could serve as a blueprint for other jurisdictions.

For open‑source protocols like SQMU, Saudi Arabia represents both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to align with the Kingdom’s sovereign‑led, Shariah‑compliant, and securities‑law‑driven framework. The opportunity is to provide transparent, auditable, and flexible infrastructure that can be adapted to those requirements—and to participate in one of the world’s largest real estate markets at the moment of its digital transformation.

Property owners, developers, and technology providers interested in participating in Saudi Arabia’s tokenised real estate ecosystem should consult the detailed regulatory analysis and explore the open‑source SQMU standard as a potential technical foundation.

SQMU – Tokenised Real Estate

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Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and Open‑Source Real Estate Tokenisation

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