News: Tokenisation Explained: Fractional Ownership of Property-31-03-2026

Tokenisation is the conversion of ownership rights in a real-world asset, physical or financial, into digital tokens recorded on a blockchain. Each token stands for a defined share of the asset, backed by a legal ownership framework and governed by smart contracts that automate transactions, transfers and payouts.

In practical terms, an investor need not buy a whole apartment worth Rs 1.5 crore but can own a fraction of it for as little as Rs 10,000, or buy a portion of a government bond instead of the full instrument. The asset is unchanged. What changes is access, with wider ownership, quicker transactions and potentially lower costs.

The real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation market grew from approximately $5 billion in 2022 to over $24 billion by early 2025, an expansion of 380% in three years. Boston Consulting Group and Ripple project it could reach $18 trillion by 2033, with real estate and alternative investment funds among the top three asset classes. McKinsey projects $2 trillion by 2030, and Standard Chartered forecasts $30 trillion by 2034 under a bullish scenario. All these estimates depend on continued regulatory clarity and institutional adoption.

Four features are cited in its favour. First, fractionalisation: commercial real estate, private equity and fine art have historically demanded minimum investments that excluded ordinary investors, and tokenisation splits them into affordable pieces. Second, liquidity: tokens can be traded round the clock, seven days a week, whereas property has traditionally taken months to buy or sell. Third, settlement: conventional markets involve custodians, clearing houses and brokers, adding delay and cost, while tokenised assets can settle in near-real time. Fourth, transparency: a shared ledger keeps a single, immutable record, making every transfer traceable and auditable, unlike the paper-heavy processes common in India’s property market.

Bengaluru-based Alt DRX, which describes itself as India’s first tokenised digital real estate marketplace, lets users buy and sell residential real estate in increments as small as one square foot, with investments starting at Rs 10,000. The platform converts physical residential properties into tradeable digital tokens through a proprietary Digital Contract that captures the economic value of the underlying property. After completing KYC, users can invest in curated assets, from rental housing and holiday homes to prime land and alternative residential models, through a stock exchange-like interface with algorithmic daily pricing and instant settlement.

Anand Narayanan, Principal Founder, Alt DRX, said he believes the next 100 million real estate investors will be digital-first and will invest beyond their hometowns in the best residential cities in India and abroad. The pitch is that a salaried professional in Coimbatore could own part of a premium apartment in Bengaluru’s Whitefield corridor and diversify across geographies much as a mutual fund investor does across stocks.

Tokenisation differs from cryptocurrency. A token represents rights in a real asset such as property, gold or bonds and is regulated and KYC-backed, whereas a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is a speculative digital asset with no physical backing.

It also differs from REITs, which pool capital into large, professionally managed portfolios of income-generating commercial property. Tokenised real estate lets investors choose specific properties, enter at much lower minimums and trade their holdings.

The risks include regulatory uncertainty as frameworks evolve, smart contract vulnerabilities, thin secondary-market liquidity for niche assets and questions over the legal enforceability of token ownership. Investors are advised to carry out thorough due diligence and choose platforms with strong regulatory positioning.

For India, where over 60% of household savings are locked in physical real estate, often a single illiquid property, the article argues the potential benefit is considerable.

This article was produced on behalf of the brand by HT Brand Studio without journalistic or editorial involvement by Hindustan Times, is for information only and is not investment advice. Alt DRX is not a registered broker-dealer or investment advisor.