What are the common challenges startups face in equity tokenisation?

The most common challenges include navigating FCA regulatory requirements, selecting the right tokenisation platform, structuring the legal framework for tokenised equity, educating investors unfamiliar with digital securities, and ensuring compliance with the UK Digital Securities Sandbox rules.

What are tokenisation platforms and how do they work?

Tokenisation platforms are regulated technology providers that convert equity or other assets into digital tokens on a blockchain or distributed ledger. In the UK, platforms operating under FCA oversight include those participating in the Digital Securities Sandbox. They handle the technical issuance, custody, and transfer of tokenised securities.

What financial insights should founders know before tokenising equity?

Founders should understand the cost structure of tokenisation (legal, platform, and compliance fees), the valuation implications of fractional ownership, how tokenised equity differs from traditional equity crowdfunding, and the tax treatment of digital securities under UK law.

What investor strategies apply to tokenised equity?

Investors in tokenised equity can benefit from fractional ownership of high-value assets, improved liquidity through secondary market trading on regulated platforms, portfolio diversification across early-stage UK startups, and participation in deals previously accessible only to institutional investors.

What is the UK regulatory landscape for equity tokenisation?

The UK regulatory landscape is governed primarily by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and HM Treasury. Key frameworks include the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS), and ongoing FCA consultations on the treatment of tokenised securities. The UK is positioning itself as a global leader in regulated digital securities.

What is equity tokenisation?

Equity tokenisation is the process of converting ownership rights in a company into digital tokens recorded on a blockchain or distributed ledger. These tokens represent shares or equity stakes and can be transferred, traded, or held digitally, subject to regulatory compliance. In the UK, tokenised equity is treated as a regulated financial instrument under FCA oversight.

Dubai Takes Centre Stage: Why the World's Tokenisation Industry Is Moving to the UAE

Name: Dubai RWA Week 2026
Start: 2026-04-27
End: 2026-05-01
Location: DMCC

Shawn Jhanji
Apr 29
4 min read

Dubai Takes Centre Stage: Why the World's Tokenisation Industry Is Moving to the UAE

As of this week, the global tokenisation industry has convened in Dubai. Dubai RWA Week 2026 — running from April 27 to May 1 with the flagship RWA Summit on May 1 at Uptown Tower in DMCC — marks the most significant gathering of institutional RWA participants outside of New York and London this year.

For UK founders and investors tracking where capital and regulatory momentum are building, the event sends a clear signal: the Gulf has become a first-tier jurisdiction for real-world asset tokenisation, and the institutional infrastructure to support it is assembling fast.

Why Dubai, Why Now

Dubai's emergence as a tokenisation hub is not accidental. The UAE's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has become one of the world's most pragmatic and active digital assets regulators, moving faster to license and framework-build than the UK's FCA or the US SEC. Both DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) and ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) have built specific digital securities regimes, creating a genuine regulatory advantage for companies that want to operate a compliant tokenisation platform without waiting for Western regulators to finalise rules.

The event brings together speakers from Mastercard, SC Ventures (Standard Chartered's venture arm), VARA, Al Fardan Corporation, ZIGChain, KAST, RockawayX, and FASSET — a mix that underscores just how far tokenisation has moved from crypto-native experimentation to mainstream financial services deployment.

With more than 1,500 sign-ups, 400+ summit attendees, and over 50 investors in attendance, this is no niche meetup. The audience profile is telling: 47% C-level executives and founders, 38% business development leaders, and 15% investors — the capital allocators and decision-makers driving real-world implementation.

What the Agenda Reveals

The summit agenda focuses on five themes that collectively map the current frontier of institutional RWA adoption:

Regulation in the UAE and globally — with VARA's Ruben Bombardi on stage, expect detailed discussion of how the UAE framework is evolving and what equivalence pathways might exist for firms wanting cross-border recognition.
RWAFI — RWA Finance at the intersection of DeFi and TradFi — the convergence thesis that is reshaping capital markets. Institutional capital wants on-chain efficiency; retail DeFi users want regulated, yield-bearing collateral. RWAFI is the emerging term for the middle ground.
Tokenised assets as a distinct asset class — a signal of maturation. When events stop treating tokenised real estate or credit as a blockchain subcategory and start positioning them as their own asset class with dedicated portfolio allocations, the mainstream adoption cycle accelerates.
Payment infrastructure evolution — stablecoins and tokenised deposits are not just settlement rails; they are becoming the default liquidity mechanism for on-chain RWA markets.
AI in RWA — automated valuation models, AI-driven compliance monitoring, and agentic portfolio management are beginning to intersect with the tokenisation stack in ways that are only just becoming visible.

The Gulf's Competitive Position

KAIO, the Abu Dhabi-based tokenisation firm that recently raised $8 million led by Tether, will be represented on stage through its co-founder Chirag Budhdeo. KAIO's model — packaging institutional funds from BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane into Solana-native tokens with minimum investment thresholds starting at $100 — is precisely the kind of infrastructure that the UAE's regulatory environment enables. More than $500 million in transactions processed, just under $100 million AUM, and growing rapidly.

This is the ecosystem that Dubai RWA Week exists to accelerate.

Implications for UK Players

For UK-based founders and investors, Dubai's momentum creates both competition and opportunity. Competition because the UAE is actively courting the same institutional capital pools and founder talent that London wants to retain. Opportunity because cross-border tokenisation transactions require regulatory interoperability — and firms that build in both jurisdictions early will be better positioned when that infrastructure matures.

The UK's PISCES framework, the FCA's fund tokenisation consultation, and HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion appointment are all moves in the same direction. But the speed differential with the Gulf is real, and the Dubai event this week is a useful reminder of what "moving faster" actually looks like in practice.

Key Takeaways

Dubai RWA Week 2026 runs April 27–May 1, with the flagship summit on May 1 at Uptown Tower, DMCC — the largest institutional tokenisation gathering in the Gulf to date
Speakers include executives from Mastercard, VARA, Standard Chartered Ventures, Al Fardan Corporation, and leading RWA infrastructure firms
The agenda signals five key themes: UAE/global regulation, RWAFI convergence, tokenised assets as a standalone asset class, payment infrastructure, and AI integration
The UAE's VARA has established itself as one of the world's most active digital assets regulators — a first-mover advantage Dubai is pressing into an institutional infrastructure lead
UK founders should track the Gulf's pace of adoption as both a competitive benchmark and a potential first market for tokenisation products targeting international deployment

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Disclaimer:

The articles we publish are for general information only and do not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. The regulatory treatment of tokenised assets and digital securities varies by jurisdiction and continues to evolve. Readers should seek independent professional advice before making any financial, legal, or regulatory decisions.