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Singapore’s central bank opened a real-estate token pilot on 15 July, letting accredited investors buy blockchain tokens backed by Grade-A offices. The move was reported The Business Times and marks Southeast Asia’s first fully regulated token property offer. MAS says the trial will run for three years and check whether on-chain trading can cut settlement delays and boost liquidity.
Each token gives a share of rental income and any capital gain from the building. MAS outlined new rules limiting the offer to people with at least S$2 million in personal assets or S$300,000 yearly income, and it requires exchanges to hold client funds in trust and complete annual audits to protect users.
“This is a safer, cheaper way to own property,” said Samuel Lee, chief executive of Fraxtor, as he told UrbanLand at a panel in Singapore. Lee added that fractional deals could reach retail buyers “once regulators gain comfort with the tech.”
Tokenization turns bricks into bits. A property is broken into many small digital units that live on a blockchain. Investors can trade these units like shares, often at a far lower entry cost than buying a whole office. Supporters say the method can speed deals and cut paperwork, while critics warn that secondary trading is still thin.
Singapore is not alone in testing the idea. In March the Dubai Land Department launched pilot to tokenise title deeds and expects the model to cover seven per cent of transactions by 2033. Analysts now look for Japan and several US states to unveil similar sandboxes later this year.
