In brief
- World Liberty Financial’s tokenization project involves building a luxury Maldivian resort.
- Associated tokens will have an exit mechanism for accredited investors.
- Some tokenized assets have historically lacked liquidity.
Holding a digital asset for four years can feel like an eternity in the cryptosphere. So, how does a Trump-backed DeFi project convince investors to park their capital behind a luxury Maldivian resort that won’t open its doors until 2030?
The answer, according to World Liberty Financial (WLFI) and Saudi real estate developer DarGlobal, is a specialized “exit mechanism” that’s designed to bridge the gap between meme coin attention spans and the slow-burn reality of international real estate.
The mechanism will be detailed in an upcoming prospectus for the Trump-backed crypto project, which entails building 100 beach and overwater villas within the archipelagic nation, DarGlobal CEO Ziad El Chaar told Decrypt, acknowledging that delays can happen.
“We’ve done a structure whereby if you’re not happy where this is going, you can exit,” he said. “And at the same time, […] you’re not standing there earning nothing.”
By tokenizing at the development level—rather than selling off pieces of a finished building—WLFI says it’s unlocking the high-margin “development returns” for commercial real estate projects that are usually eaten up by big banks.
The tokens are expected to provide investors with fixed yield and loan revenue streams that stem from the $300 million property, according to a press release. And in the future, the tokens could offer income distributions or certain profits from the property’s sale.
El Chaar said that DarGlobal is taking additional steps to convey that it has skin in the game. That includes retaining a minimum 30% equity stake in the project, instead of the 10% that developers have typically retained in similar settings, he said.
“All the interests aligned to finish that project and have that resort starting operations,” he said, noting that the ultra-luxury project’s villa-based design is intentionally “non-complicated.”
The tokens will be issued in partnership with Securitize, using infrastructure designed by the BlackRock-based tokenization specialist. In the press release, CEO Carlos Domingo noted that “real estate has been one of the hardest asset classes to tokenize effectively.”
In December, Domingo told Decrypt that tokenization could make it easier for someone to invest in overseas properties, but their ability to exit positions has historically been overlooked.
“Providing liquidity to the asset class is as important as providing accessibility,” Domingo said. “And there was a perception that tokenization was going to make those illiquid assets liquid, and that didn’t happen, because an illiquid asset is illiquid whether you tokenize it or not.”
Although countless companies have dabbled in tokenized real estate before, the project will “broaden the spectrum of choice” for crypto investors that want assets under different time horizons, World Liberty Financial co-founder Eric Trump told Decrypt.
“If you want to hop in and out of a project five minutes later, go buy some meme coins,” he said. “It’s giving optionality to the masses that, again, they might not have ever had before.”
Still, the company’s offering is limited to accredited investors, meaning most of the project’s returns won’t be accessible to the average person. Trump said he hopes that group becomes broader over time, pushing further away from deals dominated by big banks.
El Chaar said that investors will eventually be able to convert their exposure to equity in the Maldivian resort if they want. He added that the tokens also come with “lifestyle benefits,” which will become available to eligible investors within the next month.
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