Lumia Towers to launch $220M tokenized real estate project in Istanbul
The RWA market could grow 20x to 50x by 2030
Tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) is considered one of the most promising applications of blockchain technology. Crypto.News interviewed Kal Ali, CEO of Lumia, and Boris Spremo, Head of Corporate & Financial Services at Polygon Labs, to discuss how RWA is reshaping the real estate sector.
Key Takeaways
According to Landshares, the RWA market could grow 20x to 50x by 2030.
One of the largest planned RWA real estate projects is Lumia Towers in Istanbul, valued at $220 million.
The project demonstrates the potential of RWA in real estate and highlights new tokenization trends.
Challenges remain, but projects like Lumia Towers bring solutions closer to reality.
From existing properties to large-scale RWA projects
The current tokenized RWA market is valued at approximately $187 billion, but it could grow to $3.5 trillion in a bearish scenario and up to $10 trillion in a bullish scenario by 2030.
Blockchain enables fractional ownership of high-value assets, allowing investors to buy shares in real estate projects starting from just $1.
Previously, tokenization focused on existing buildings. For example, Tokeninvest in the U.S. acquired a $740,000 property in Longmont, Colorado and tokenized it, allowing external investors to fund 97% of its purchase.
Now, Lumia Towers in Istanbul is set to become the first large-scale RWA real estate project built by a Web3 company. Covering 50,000+ square meters, the $220 million project will house 300 residential and commercial units, positioning itself as a global crypto hub.
According to Lumia CEO Kal Ali, the twin skyscrapers will be completed and fully tokenized by Q2 2026.
Turkey: A developer’s paradise for real estate tokenization
The Turkish real estate market is booming, with property prices rising 10-15% annually. Home sales in January 2025 surged 39.7% year-over-year, reaching 112,173 units—the second-highest January figure on record. Mortgage-backed sales rose 182.8% year-over-year.
According to Boris Spremo of Polygon Labs, Lumia Towers will make real estate ownership more accessible, as RWA tokenization allows:
- Breaking down physical assets into fractional ownership shares starting at just $1.
- Maintaining asset value based on real estate market trends, which continue to rise.
- If successful, Lumia aims to expand to other Middle Eastern regions, tokenizing entire districts and integrating mortgage financing and insurance solutions.
How are property rights distributed via blockchain?
According to Lumia CEO Kal Ali, ownership of the tokenized twin towers will be structured through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs).
SPVs will own the tokenized real estate, with shares issued as ERC-20 tokens on the blockchain.Token holders will have governance rights, allowing them to vote on decisions, such as renting or selling properties.
The Lumia Towers tokens will be launched on Lumia Chain, ensuring easy access for retail investors. Additionally, tokens will be integrated with DeFi protocols via Lumia Stream and Lumia Ecosystem.
Polygon’s role in real estate tokenization
Polygon enables developers like Lumia to: customize their blockchain infrastructure for real estate tokenization, reduce tokenization costs without compromising security. The Lumia Towers team believes the project will be a breakthrough, making real estate investment more accessible and transparent for retail investors.
However, lessons from past tokenization projects must be addressed, especially regarding maintenance cost distribution for small-share owners.
Many previous projects struggled with anonymous token holders scattered worldwide, whose only identifiers were alphanumeric wallet addresses stored on the blockchain.
Over the past month, the total value of tokenized real-world assets (RWA) on the Ethereum blockchain has increased by 10.8% to $4.1 billion, further strengthening Ethereum’s dominance in this market, with its share rising to 53.4%.
