The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has invited businesses to express their interest in participating in the Tokenization Regulation Sandbox by April 24, 2025.
In an announcement on March 17, DFSA, an independent regulator overseeing the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), said the initiative is targeting companies seeking to provide tokenized investment products and services.
Sandbox provides a controlled environment for testing tokenized financial solutions under regulatory supervision.
This initiative comes as tokenization gains traction worldwide. Data from RWA.xyz shows that the real world asset (RWA) tokenization market is valued at approximately $18.86 billion. This sector has seen an increase in users by more than 5% over the past month alone.
Who can participate?
DFSA outlined that eligible services include tokenized stocks, bonds, sukuks and collective investment fund units.
It could potentially apply to both existing DFSA certified companies considering expanding to tokenization and new applicants who meet the required requirements.
Applications will be accepted from March 17th to April. Once submitted, the company undergoes an evaluation process. Successful applicants will access structured testing opportunities and gain coordinated regulatory guidance within the sandbox.
According to DFSA, only companies with a strong business model and a solid grasp of regulatory compliance are selected.
The initiative falls under the regulator’s broad innovation test licensing program and is designed to help businesses refine their financial products before full authorization.
The UAE’s Procrypt Approach
Tokenization sandboxes are in line with the UAE’s broader push to strengthen their position as a global leader in digital finance.
This month, authorities approved a cross-border payment license. Ripple, crypto payment company. With this license, Ripple will become the first blockchain-based payment provider to receive regulatory clearance in the Dubai financial ecosystem.
Outside of Dubai, Abu Dhabi has also taken steps to integrate stubcoins into the financial system, incorporating tether USDT for wider institutional use.
Additionally, Coinbase and ChainLink have launched a joint initiative aimed at expanding the adoption of institutional cryptography in the region.
