Dubai eyes tokenised assets as next phase of global financial hub ambitions

Daman Virtual and Dubai DET bring together regulators, investors and financial leaders as the emirate looks to deepen adoption of digital assets.

Dubai is looking to tokenisation and digital assets to help deepen its capital markets and attract greater international investment as it pursues its ambition to become one of the world’s leading financial centres.

Senior figures from government, regulation, investment and financial services gathered at the inaugural Digital Assets Leadership Forum, organised by Daman Virtual and the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).

The event examined how deeper capital markets, regulation, international investment and institutional adoption of digital assets could contribute to the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

Shehab Gargash, Founder and Chairman of Daman Investments and Daman Securities, said Dubai had already established the foundations of a sophisticated financial centre, but the next stage would require further development of its capital markets.

“The opportunity now is to deepen its capital markets, broaden international participation, and ensure innovation translates into long-term market growth,” he said.

One of the central themes was the potential for tokenisation, turning ownership rights in traditional assets into digital tokens that can be traded and settled using blockchain-based infrastructure.

Mainstream use

Sukuk, investment funds and international equities were among the asset classes discussed as financial institutions increasingly examine how tokenisation can move beyond experimentation and into mainstream use.

Ahmed Waheed, CEO of Daman Securities and Board Member of Daman Virtual, said technology alone would not determine whether the sector succeeds.

“The opportunity is not simply to introduce new technologies, but to use them in ways that can broaden investor participation, improve market access and create genuine value,” he said.

“Doing that successfully requires the right combination of market infrastructure, regulatory clarity and institutional confidence.”

The forum included representatives from the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, DET and Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), alongside executives from companies including Galaxy Digital, Zand and Confirmo.

Delivering for investors

Ahmed Ismail, Co-Founder and Board Member of Daman Virtual, said the next phase of the sector would increasingly be judged by what digital assets actually deliver for investors.

“The real opportunity is to make digital assets work for investors in the same way they expect any established financial market to work, with trust, transparency, and the right protections in place,” he said.

The event comes as Daman Virtual expands its presence in Dubai’s regulated virtual-assets sector.

The institutional virtual-assets arm of Daman Securities and wholly owned subsidiary of Daman Investments is licensed by VARA as a Broker-Dealer.

Its flagship Daman Crypto platform, launched in May 2026, targets institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals, family offices, corporates and Web3 companies.

The platform offers AED settlement and connectivity to UAE banking rails, as Daman seeks to use its more than 27 years of financial-services experience to bridge traditional finance and the emerging digital-assets market.