Editor’s Note
This article details a landmark move in Dubai’s luxury asset market, where $280 million in diamonds has been tokenized on the XRP Ledger. This fusion of high-value commodities and blockchain technology aims to transform traditionally illiquid assets into accessible digital investments.
Dubai is undergoing a significant change in the high-end asset market. In a pioneering step, Billiton Diamond and Ctrl Alt tokenized over two hundred and eighty million dollars worth of confirmed polished diamonds on the XRP Ledger blockchain.
The tokenized diamond inventory is cemented by Ripple’s enterprise-grade custody product. This way, traditionally illiquid luxury assets will be made into digital investments. Such a combination of commodity trading and blockchain technology makes Dubai a pioneer in the industry.
The initial stage of tokenization was finished by Billiton Diamond and Ctrl Alt. Diamonds valued at over AED 1 billion of polished diamonds are now on the blockchain. These tokens are stored on the XRP Ledger, as the fast settlement and low-fee nature were selected.
— Reece Merrick, Managing Director of Middle East and Africa at Ripple, via X (formerly Twitter).
The project tokenization provider is Ctrl Alt. The company already tokenized more than 850 million of assets in real property and commodities. According to Robert Farquhar, CEO MENA of Ctrl Alt, the platform provides institutional-level infrastructure to the multifaceted diamond supply chain.
The tokenized platform incorporates inventory management on the blockchain in real time. Every transaction is verified by the stakeholders in terms of the source, grading, and ownership history. Experts polish every stone and store the certification data on-chain to ensure transparency.
— Jamal Akhtar, a joint owner of Billiton Diamond.
DMCC was very instrumental in facilitating this venture. The business district had provided business advice and industry support regarding diamond tokenization.
— Ahmed Bin, CEO of DMCC.
The successive stages will revolve around custody, transfer, and secondary-market preparedness. Billiton will also list tokenized diamonds in secondary and developing primary markets. The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has to approve all operations prior to launch.
The project is consistent with the latest developments of VARA regulations. The framework in Dubai encourages digital resources to fit conventional commodity-trading standards. This partnership opens the door to valuable commodity tokenization at a massive level.
The scalable structure of the XRP Ledger allows managing diamond assets easily. The blockchain manages complex ownership transfers with verified certification. Asset tokenization of real estate into luxury commodities is growing in reality.