🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Stake’s expansion relies on new market infrastructure built by governments and regulators

• Stake’s growth ties to government efforts to update capital markets.
• Its move into Saudi Arabia lines up with the Kingdom’s late 2024 launch of a national blockchain-based infrastructure for real estate registration and fractional ownership 1.
• Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), the city’s regulator for digital assets, widened its framework to cover real-world asset tokenisation. Stake has In-Principle Approval (IPA) from VARA while it pursues regulated tokenisation 2.
• Emirates NBD led the investment to build out the bank’s digital investing capabilities, which points to stronger institutional backing for this infrastructure 2.

This approach opens new routes for global real estate investing

• The funding adds to a broader change in how capital reaches property markets.
• Stake works as a distribution outlet for larger assets through its distribution agreement with Investcorp, a global alternative investment manager. The deal gives investors access to select international real estate opportunities through the Stake app 3.
• Individuals can put money into specific properties with minimums as low as $150, which puts pressure on traditional pooled products 4.
• Since the end of 2024, Stake has directed more than SAR416 million into Saudi real estate from 6,930 international investors 2.
• Clearer rules for tokenised assets could inform Western markets, even though each jurisdiction uses different frameworks 5, 6.