Amid renewed government attention and growing corporate interest, tokenization in commercial real estate could be moving toward practical use after years of stalled progress. Once heralded as a potential breakthrough for turning real estate into tradable digital shares, blockchain-backed investment platforms have long struggled to reach the mainstream. But new policy developments and evolving market sentiment suggest that this may be changing.
Tim Davis, a principal with Deloitte who leads the firm’s blockchain and digital assets consulting practice, told GlobeSt.com that federal directives and pending legislation are spurring momentum. He pointed to an executive order issued earlier this year by the Trump administration that requires government agencies to examine potential blockchain applications, as well as the proposed Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which aims to define the regulatory roles overseeing digital commodities and crypto transactions.
“There was a lot of innovation that was being somewhat suppressed,” Davis said.
“There were companies that wanted to move forward but felt they didn’t have the regulatory permission.”
Banks remain divided on adoption, he added. “Some say they aren’t comfortable accepting this as collateral.” Yet JPMorgan has taken a different approach, announcing it would accept Bitcoin and Ethereum for loans—a sign of growing confidence among some financial players.
Davis noted that blockchain adoption has advanced more rapidly in other parts of the world, while U.S. development has lagged amid regulatory uncertainty. Still, the economic appeal is clear.
“You can move money internationally for pennies,” he said, describing how corporations in developing markets face significant transfer costs that blockchain could reduce. For commercial real estate investors, tokenization offers the promise of faster liquidity—buying or selling shares in a property in hours rather than weeks—and price transparency through prediction markets that could refine valuation models.
Though the potential is significant, Davis cautioned that the technology is still in its early, complex stages.
“Right now, in private real estate, the property is put into a special purpose vehicle,” he explained. The equity in that entity is what gets tokenized, not the property itself.
“I’m not aware of any jurisdiction that has direct access to real estate on a chain,” he said, adding that true property-level tokenization is likely at least a decade away. For now, he predicts blockchain will find more traction in organizing the financial tools that support investment activity.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.