The Global Shift Toward Real Estate Tokenization

Image Source: Forbytes, 2023

Real estate tokenization is rapidly transitioning from a fringe innovation to a structural transformation that is reshaping how investors access, trade, and profit from property assets. Research from Roland Berger, BCG, and ScienceSoft converges on a bold but increasingly realistic forecast: by 2030, tokenized real estate could reach a market volume of nearly $3 trillion, representing close to 15% of global real estate assets under management. For AireVest, this isn't simply a global trend to monitor — it is a strategic tailwind accelerating the adoption of fractional ownership models across Europe and beyond.

Why Tokenization Is Growing So Quickly

For decades, real estate has been ranked among the best long-term investments, particularly in the United States. Yet investor participation has always been restricted by the sector's defining limitations: high entry costs, illiquidity, slow settlement times, and costly intermediaries. Tokenization offers a technological solution to these barriers by converting property interests into tradeable digital tokens, making it possible for investors to buy small fractions of assets and transact instantly without relying on traditional intermediaries.

This shift is not theoretical. EY's recent surveys reveal that 80% of high-net-worth investors and 67% of institutional investors are already allocating capital to tokenized assets. By 2026, those investors plan to allocate 5.6–8.6% of their portfolios to tokens — and real estate is consistently ranked as the second most attractive tokenized asset class. This represents a significant change in how private wealth and institutional capital approach real estate: the new expectation is low minimums, higher liquidity, and global access.

Tokenization's appeal is equally strong on the supply side. Real estate owners and developers are increasingly turning to fractional sales to unlock liquidity, reach new investor demographics, and reduce the cost of capital. Deloitte reports that 12% of global real estate firms have already implemented tokenization, while another 46% are actively piloting solutions. Elevated Returns' tokenization of the St. Regis Aspen remains one of the best-documented examples: the firm raised $18 million, saw its token value grow 30% in 18 months, and ultimately watched the asset appreciate 3.3x between 2022 and 2024 thanks to secondary market activity.

The Regulatory Landscape: The Biggest Brake on Growth

Despite the enthusiasm, regulators remain the major limiting force. In the United States, real estate tokens are treated as securities, subject to strict Securities and Exchange Commission rules that limit participation primarily to accredited investors and severely restrict secondary trading. Analysts from KPMG and EY agree that regulatory uncertainty is the single largest structural barrier preventing tokenization from scaling.

However, this is where the European context — and specifically Bulgaria — becomes a competitive advantage for AireVest. The European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) provides a much clearer framework than the fragmented U.S. environment, and Bulgaria has demonstrated openness to digital asset innovation. AireVest is developing within a regulatory landscape that is more flexible, more unified, and more supportive of fintech-driven real estate innovation, granting an early-mover advantage while still operating in a compliance-first manner.

Technology Maturity: From Experimental to Enterprise-Grade

The technology underpinning asset tokenization is also maturing rapidly. Gartner's 2024 Hype Cycle classifies tokenization as an "adolescent" technology that is expected to reach mainstream enterprise adoption within 2–5 years. The number of tokenization platforms has grown by 75% in one year, and a growing number of real estate firms are choosing custom-built solutions to achieve deeper compliance control, unlock more flexible tokenomics, and maintain direct ownership of investor data.

For AireVest, this reinforces its strategic choice: building an AI-first proprietary platform tailored to Bulgarian real estate is not only viable — it is aligned with global best practice and the direction of institutional adoption.

The Liquidity Challenge and Coming Breakthroughs

One of the most persistent barriers to mass adoption is the absence of interoperable secondary markets. Today, most tokenized real estate trades only within the platform where it was issued, limiting investor reach and slowing liquidity. Deloitte highlights this as one of the primary obstacles to mainstream usage.

However, major financial infrastructure providers are actively closing this gap. The most promising development comes from Swift's collaboration with Chainlink and major financial institutions including BNY Mellon, Citi, BNP Paribas, and Lloyds. Their ongoing tests for cross-network token transfers could enable seamless secondary trading across both centralized (CeFi) and decentralized (DeFi) platforms. Once launched, this will dramatically expand liquidity for tokenized assets and further strengthen the business case for fractional property ownership.

AireVest stands to benefit significantly from this evolution. By launching now, the platform gains market positioning while liquidity infrastructure continues to mature. When cross-chain secondary trading becomes standard, AireVest-issued property shares will be among the early assets ready to participate.

Where Tokenization Will Expand — And Where It Will Not

Industry leaders agree that despite the sector's massive growth trajectory, not all real estate is equally suited for tokenization. Commercial real estate — engineered for yield and investor return — fits perfectly into tokenized models. Residential real estate, however, faces challenges due to mortgage regulations, ownership rights, and the emotional value attached to family homes.

This perspective directly supports AireVest's strategy. AireVest specializes in high-yield residential-for-rental properties that operate more like commercial assets than primary residences. These properties generate rental income, attract investors seeking yield, and do not involve the complex ownership rights tied to personal housing. In short, AireVest sits precisely in the segment of residential real estate that is most compatible with tokenization trends.

Impact Across Market Participants

Tokenization affects every participant in the real estate value chain. Developers benefit from faster capital raising, expanded investor pools, and reduced operational overhead thanks to smart contract automation. Investors gain access to global assets with low entry thresholds — RealT users, for example, invest with as little as $50, with 88% entering with less than $5,000. Agents and intermediaries face disruption as peer-to-peer models reduce the need for traditional brokerage functions, pushing them instead toward advisory roles around tokenized asset structures.

Finally, technology providers face accelerating demand for blockchain infrastructure, compliance engines, tokenized-asset management platforms, and liquidity marketplaces — creating a rich ecosystem from which AireVest can continue to draw cutting-edge tools as it scales.

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Conclusion: Why This Matters for AireVest

Everything the global market is indicating — demand shift, regulatory evolution, technology maturity, and secondary market development — points toward the emerging dominance of fractional, technology-driven real estate investing. Worldwide investors want higher liquidity, lower minimums, and instant global access to high-yield assets. Real estate owners want new capital channels that free them from the slow, expensive process of traditional deals. Regulators are moving toward frameworks that support digital assets. And secondary markets are preparing to unlock global liquidity at unprecedented scale.

AireVest is positioned at the intersection of all these forces. By focusing on Bulgaria — an undervalued, high-growth market with a more adaptive regulatory environment — and combining data-driven selection with an AI-first tokenization platform, AireVest captures the full upside of the coming tokenization wave while avoiding the constraints limiting adoption in markets like the United States.

This is not a future trend. It is the beginning of a structural realignment in both real estate and private investment. And AireVest is building at precisely the right moment to lead it.

References

Boston Consulting Group. Real Assets Tokenization Outlook. BCG, 2023.

Deloitte. Real Estate Tokenization Adoption Study. Deloitte, June 2024.

Deloitte. Tokenization Guide. Deloitte, 2024.

Digital Asset Research. Tokenization Platform Market Report. Digital Asset Research, 2023.

Elevated Returns. St. Regis Aspen Digital Securities Offering Case Study. Elevated Returns, 2018–2024.

Ernst & Young. Global Investor Survey on Tokenized Assets. EY, May 2023.

Gartner. Hype Cycle for Web3 and Blockchain 2024. Gartner, 2024.

RealT. RealT Marketplace Data and Property Tokenization Overview. RealT, 2023–2025.

Roland Berger. Tokenized Real Estate Market Forecast. Roland Berger, 2023.

ScienceSoft Research Team. "Tokenization to Redefine Investing in Real Estate." ScienceSoft, 8 May 2025.

Securitize. Compliance-Native Tokenization Platform Overview. Securitize, 2023–2025.

SolidBlock. Real Estate Tokenization Solutions. SolidBlock, 2023–2025.

Swift and Chainlink. Cross-Network Tokenized Asset Transfer Pilot. Swift–Chainlink Collaboration Report, 2023–2024.

tZERO. St. Regis Aspen (ERTA) Secondary Market Trading Performance. tZERO, 2022–2024.

Lofty AI. Tokenized Property Investment Platform Overview. Lofty AI, 2023–2025.