Guest's Quote
“Tokenization is not about minting a token. It’s about programmable ownership, enforceable rights, and building a more capital-efficient future for real assets.”
Sonia Shaw is the Founder and CEO of OneAsset, a Dubai-based platform focused on tokenized commercial real estate and real-world asset infrastructure. With over 15 years of experience spanning traditional business, management, and finance, Sonia transitioned into the digital asset space in 2022, bringing deep expertise in commercial real estate investment and institutional capital markets.
At OneAsset, she is building regulated, structured on-chain frameworks that bridge premium real-world assets with global liquidity. Her work focuses on improving accessibility, capital efficiency, and programmable ownership structures for traditionally illiquid asset classes such as commercial real estate.
Sonia explained that financial instruments like treasury bonds and private credit already have deep liquidity, standardized valuation frameworks, and strong regulatory clarity. Tokenizing these assets is relatively straightforward. Commercial real estate, by contrast, involves physical ownership, jurisdictional land registration, SPV structures, valuation variability, and complex settlement processes. The friction is operational rather than technological. Real estate remains illiquid by nature, and solving its tokenization requires a full ecosystem approach rather than a simple on-chain wrapper.
Sonia clarified that yields depend heavily on geography and risk appetite. In stable prime markets such as central Sydney, commercial net yields may range between 4–5%, appealing to capital preservation-focused allocators like pension funds. In high-growth markets like Dubai, especially in niche sectors such as hospitality, wellness, or AI-linked infrastructure, returns can exceed 10–15% depending on acquisition pricing and economic momentum. The key factor is disciplined acquisition and asset selection, not simply the fact that an asset is tokenized.
Sonia emphasized that major capital market governments are actively studying and building frameworks for RWA integration. The United States is pushing forward market structure legislation. The UAE has positioned itself as a pioneer with dedicated digital asset regulatory bodies like VARA. Singapore is focusing heavily on structural liquidity, commodities, and carbon markets. The difference lies in approach: some regions prioritize speed and clarity, while others emphasize foundational market design. Across the board, regulatory clarity is improving, enabling institutional participation.
Sonia acknowledged that the RWA space is still psychologically linked to broader crypto sentiment but believes that its long-term trajectory is decoupling. Market corrections, in her view, actually benefit RWA builders because they shift attention away from speculative narratives and toward real use cases. Tokenized real estate represents a structural capital transition rather than a short-term narrative. As stablecoins gain regulatory clarity, the next logical step is bringing productive real-world assets onto blockchain rails.
Sonia stressed that education and regulatory enforcement are essential. Consumers must understand that tokenization represents enforceable ownership rights, yield participation, and structured legal frameworks — not simply a digital token. Regulatory clarity builds confidence. Clear issuance frameworks, consumer protection standards, and enforceable rights structures will enable tokenized assets to feel as trustworthy as traditional bank investments. She believes the UAE is currently one of the most advanced jurisdictions in providing this clarity.
Tokenized real estate is not about replacing banks or legacy finance. It is about increasing capital efficiency, shortening liquidity cycles, and enabling programmable ownership across borders.
Sonia’s approach is not narrative-driven. It is long-term infrastructure-focused. She is building for a 10–15 year horizon — aligning regulated issuance, institutional discipline, and real economic growth sectors such as AI infrastructure and commercial development.
And as Sonia framed it clearly — if you start from first principles and solve real inefficiencies, timing becomes secondary.