Unlocking Real Estate: How Tokenisation is Democratising Property Investment

Traditionally, real estate has been primarily accessible to wealthy investors. Investing in properties requires substantial expertise, and significant upfront capital - placing it out of reach for many.

Fortunately, new investment models powered by tokenisation are reshaping this landscape and lowering barriers to entry. 

Tokenisation is the process of converting a real-world asset, such as real estate, into digital tokens that can be recorded, transferred, or traded on a blockchain. Each token represents a share of ownership in the asset, allowing it to be divided, stored, and exchanged digitally with ease.

This approach enables investors to engage in the real estate market without direct ownership of properties, bringing greater liquidity, regulatory compliance, enhanced transparency, and a flexible, customisable experience to markets worldwide.

How Tokenisation Increases Liquidity in the Real Estate Market

Real estate's inherently local nature - driven by regional regulations, complex paperwork requirements, and localised banking practices - creates significant barriers for international investors seeking to enter specific markets, especially when combined with the need for deep local market knowledge. Business processes necessary for the acquisition and provision of a property as an investment, including due diligence and extensive paperwork, are also cumbersome. Therefore, the status quo in the real estate market does not meet the liquidity needs that many investors require.

This is where tokenisation offers a solution. By dividing a single property into multiple tokens that each represent a fraction of the asset, investors can buy or sell small shares of a property in markets worldwide. This approach lowers the initial investment required, making real estate trading more accessible and flexible. Tokenisation also bypasses the localisation of property markets, enabling investors to trade their investments with a global market of individuals and institutions, greatly increasing the liquidity of their investments.

Fractional investments transform the real estate market from a property purchase in a localised market to a flexible, divisible investment, creating smaller transactions that boost liquidity, reduce market volatility and create a global market for real estate.

The Power of Tokenisation Creating New Compliance and Regulatory Safeguards

Tokenised real estate platforms are able to build automated compliance measures, keeping real estate investors and property owners honest to abide by regional and international regulations. These regulatory safeguards help prevent legal disputes and non-compliant investments, creating a more stable real estate market environment and attracting institutional investors who seek compliant, low-risk environments with clear regulatory alignment.

The introduction of transparent, easy-to-access compliance procedures to the real estate investment market with tokenised platforms makes the real estate market more liquid by facilitating a quick sale of assets in the case of mortgage defaults and other insolvency events. Enabled by access to a larger global market that doesn't require large amounts of capital for participation, real estate investments are transformed from illiquid investments to a versatile tool for a wider range of investors.

Blockchain Technology: Security and Transparency of Real Estate Investment

Transaction records in the traditional real estate market are difficult to trace, leading to scandals and corruption, but with blockchain technology, every transaction is stored in an immutable ledger. Each step of the transaction is recorded on-chain, including asset valuations, payment confirmations, and ownership transfers. These immutable records prevent fraud and corruption from occurring, delivering a reliable transaction history of data for regulators and investors to see, verify, and trust.

The history of each asset and its provenance, from past ownership to maintenance records, can be tokenised on the blockchain, revealing a clear and specific history of each property.

Investment rights with cryptographic verification protect token holders by ensuring clear and legally enforceable investment stakes in the asset. The investment details are traceable and provide legal proof of each person’s right to the property. The clarity of investment rights and records on the blockchain with an immutable ledger prevents disputes over property claims, so investors have peace of mind that their investment in the property is secure and recognised.

Real Estate Investors Have More Flexibility and Customisation with Tokenisation

Real estate investments are generally perceived as a lower risk, lower yield asset class. However, this simple understanding of the industry negates the vast differences between investment strategies enacted in property investment. First, the realisation of returns has multiple approaches, including the sale of the asset, collection of rents or property appreciation. There is also a wide array of rental strategies: hotel-style bookings through Airbnb offer a distinct approach when compared to medium or long-term lets. Factoring in differences in location, asset size and political considerations, it's clear that investors have a vast array of investment strategies to pick from.

Large institutional investors are able to gain exposure to all available investment strategies through investments in a large number of properties, but the rest of the market is currently only able to employ one or a handful of investment strategies. 

Through the tokenisation of real estate assets, investors are able to invest globally according to any number of investment strategies, boosting the flexibility of real estate investments and increasing their utility as an asset class.

Real Estate for Everyone

Tokenisation is breaking down barriers to investments in real estate, making it possible for anyone, anywhere, to invest in a slice of property. This shift turns real estate from a complex, exclusive market into an accessible, flexible investment that fits your goals. With tokenisation, investing in property is no longer a privilege - but an opportunity for everyone.