‘Tokenization to drive economic inclusion, real estate liquidity in Qatar’

Doha, Qatar: Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is spearheading a bold push into the future of digital assets but with a clear distinction of Betting on to...

Doha, Qatar: Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is spearheading a bold push into the future of digital assets but with a clear distinction of “Betting on tokenization over cryptocurrency”. According to Yousuf Al-Jaida, CEO of Qatar Financial Centre, the focus is on building a robust, regulated framework to digitise real-world assets and unlock new economic opportunities, particularly in real estate and Islamic finance.

“We are an onshore legal environment,” Al-Jaida said during his remarks at the Qatar Economic Forum. He said: “Businesses set up in QFC can operate onshore freely and are taxed, with no physical boundaries, so we have to coordinate closely with local regulators, especially when it comes to digital assets.”

Al-Jaida emphasised that while “crypto” is often the first thing regulators and the public associate with digital assets, the term encompasses much more. “Digital assets could be any type of value in digital format, such as stablecoins, central bank digital currencies, security tokens, and utility tokens. Crypto is just one vertical,” he explained.

Given Qatar Central Bank’s strict stance on crypto with even though trading being heavily regulated, QFC has taken a different route. “Our entire focus, resources, and investment have gone into tokenization,” Al-Jaida said. “Tokenization solves a real problem in the economy. It democratises access to illiquid real assets like real estate and private securities.”

With global tokenized assets expected to hit $30 trillion by 2030, including $15 trillion in illiquid assets and $1 trillion in security tokens, the CEO sees a clear opportunity. “This is where our regulations are focused. We launched our Digital Asset Regulations in 2024, along with the Investment Token Rulebook and security token guidelines. These allow us to license digital asset firms swiftly and efficiently within the QFC framework,” he said.