Tokenized real estate trading platform launches on Polygon

Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform DigitShares is bringing tokenized real estate trading to Polygon with the launch of RealEstate.Exchange, also known as REX.

According to a March 25 announcement, REX is designed to offer retail investors a compliant venue for fractional property investments in a secondary market, potentially addressing the industry’s existing liquidity constraints. As Cointelegraph explained, secondary RWA trading platforms provide liquid off-ramps for investors looking to cash out of their holdings. 

The REX platform will launch with two luxury property listings in Miami, Florida, including The Legacy Hotel & Residences, a 529-unit tower managed by real estate investment platform FraXion, and a 38-unit residential complex managed by Trade Estate.

A street view of The Legacy Hotel & Residences in Miami, Florida. Source: Google Maps

DigiShares CEO Claus Skaaning told Cointelegraph that REX intends to support “various property types, including residential, commercial and luxury real estate.” In addition to the two Miami properties, REX has “5-6 additional properties in the pipeline,” said Skaaning.

Polygon’s proof-of-stake blockchain was selected due to its low transaction costs, fast settlement times and robust security, the company said. 

Polygon is the 13th-largest blockchain based on 24-hour trading volume, according to CoinGecko. 

REX is licensed in the United States through Texture Capital, a registered broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The platform is participating in an EU blockchain sandbox as it seeks registration under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) frameworks. 

According to the announcement, REX is also eyeing registrations in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. 

REX’s parent company, DigiShares, has facilitated between $100 million and $200 million in tokenized real estate assets since 2018.

DigiShares is one of several companies vying for a piece of the tokenized real estate market. In February, Blocksquare introduced a real estate tokenization framework in the EU, which would allow property owners to tokenize economic rights tied to property.

The United Arab Emirates has also emerged as a hotbed for tokenized real estate, with Mantra Finance securing a license to expand RWA services in Dubai.

Related: Tokenization can transform real estate investing — Polygon CEO

The RWA tokenization market, which extends beyond real estate to include traditional financial assets, art and intellectual property, has reached a cumulative $62 billion, according to data from Security Token Market (STM). 

The market capitalization of tokenized assets continues to grow. Source: STM

STM data currently tracks 595 real estate tokens, which represent the largest number of active tokens by asset class but are much smaller than debt and equity tokens in terms of monetary value. 

Although real estate tokenization remains in its early days, Mantra co-founder and CEO John Patrick Mullin told Cointelegraph that the industry could be worth trillions in the near future. 

“If you’re looking at the base ecosystem right now, it’s still a drop in the ocean compared to where we expect this to go in the mid-to long term. It’s in the tens of billions. We’re expecting this to go into potentially trillions of dollars of assets onchain,” he said.

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