Catenaa, Saturday, July 19, 2025-Ripple has joined forces with Ctrl Alt to provide secure custody for Dubai Land Department’s tokenized property deeds, expanding its institutional blockchain presence in the Middle East.
The project marks the region’s first government-backed tokenization of real estate title deeds on a public blockchain, leveraging Ripple’s XRPL.
Ctrl Alt, now Ripple’s first major custody partner in the UAE, recently obtained regulatory clearance from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, enabling it to offer compliant issuer services, asset custody and lifecycle management. The partnership will support fractional ownership and bring new transparency to property investments in Dubai.
Ripple’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, Reece Merrick, said Dubai’s decision to use XRPL validates the network’s reputation as a trusted financial-grade blockchain.
This collaboration extends Ripple’s custody reach to five global regions, reflecting a rising demand for regulated digital asset infrastructure. Ripple has secured over 60 licenses globally and earlier this year became the first blockchain payments provider licensed by Dubai’s Financial Services Authority. It has also partnered with Zand Bank and Mamo, while its stablecoin RLUSD was approved for use in the Dubai International Financial Centre.
The Dubai move follows similar developments elsewhere, including Bergen County, New Jersey, which plans to tokenize 370,000 property deeds valued at $240 billion on Avalanche. Analysts predict the global value of tokenized illiquid assets could reach $16 trillion by 2030, with Goldman Sachs and others ramping up investments.
