UAE real estate investment platform Stake receives VARA license on its road to tokenization
UAE based Stake, a digital real estate investment platform, that offers fractional investment, investment in real estate funds, under the name Stake RWA FZE, is now moving closer to offering tokenized assets as it has been granted a crypto broker dealer license from VARA Dubai (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority), after it received its in principle approval back January of 2026.
As per the VARA website, Stake is permitted to serve Institutional Investors, Qualified Investors and Retail Investors, and to serve UAE customers only. Additionally customers can only fund and withdraw in fiat currency, not crypto.
The license is also granted by the UAE Capital Markets Authority (CMA) which gives Stake the ability to offer its services across the UAE. All VASPs licensed by VARA are also licensed by the CMA.
On its LinkedIn page Stake noted, ” Since day one, Stake has been about making Dubai real estate accessible to more people. Fractional ownership was the first step. Tokenization is the next, and we’ve chosen to build it the right way, within the frameworks set by VARA.”
Prior to this Stake received an Islamic Window license from DFSA in DIFC, and are also permitted to offer Shariah compliant Islamic Financial Business.
In April of 2026 Stake RWA, also partnered with ACE & Company, a Swiss-based global private markets investment group with over $2 billion in assets under management, to support the development of liquidity solutions for investors in Stake products.
According to their website, Stake aims to develop a world where real estate is freely accessible, borderless and liquid. It has already funded $381 million worth of properties and in 2025, it raised $14 million in a Series A funding round as part of their expansion into Saudi Arabia.
The raise was led by Middle East Venture Partners, with participation from Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures, Mubadala, and Republic. In 2022, Stake closed its pre-series A round at $8 million, backed by MEVP and BY Ventures, with participation from returning investors Vivium Holding and Combined Growth Real Estate.
In previous comments, Ricardo Brizido, our Co-Founder and CPTO at Stak had noted, ” Stake through tokenization will enable users to invest with smaller amounts, own verifiable digital assets on the blockchain and eventually trade their shared through an internal marketplace, while maintaining the same level of security trusted by global banks.”
He explained “Every token comes with official ownership documents issued by the Dubai Land Department. Every transaction is recorded on the blockchain. And we’re operating under VARA regulation to ensure the highest standards of compliance and investor protection. The tokenization pilot launches first for UAE-based users. Then we scale globally.”
