Kirsten Bilting García y Marcos María Lázaro
PUBLIC LAW DIVISION
Graduate in Law from the Complutense University of Madrid, Master’s Degree in Access to the Legal Profession and Digital Law from IE Law School. Member of the Public and Real Estate Law Division at Bufete Barrilero y Asociados.
K.bilting@barrilero.es · LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/kirsten-bilting
Tokenization consists of converting a real asset into a token—in other words, creating a digital representation of that asset. Thus, for example, a high-value work of art can be tokenized to enable the online purchase and sale of its digital representation as if it were a share on the stock market.
In recent years, tokenization has become one of the main innovations in the real estate sector. In contrast to an environment traditionally characterized by high-value transactions, low liquidity and complex financing processes, this model makes it possible to economically split a project without altering ownership of the property. For developers, it represents a more direct and flexible source of financing; and for investors, it drastically reduces the entry barrier, allowing participation in high-value assets starting from amounts that, in some cases, range between €100 and €200.
Real estate tokenization digitally represents, through tokens, economic rights linked to a property. These tokens in the real estate sector are classified as security tokens due to their financial nature. It is not the ownership of the property that is tokenized, but the instrument granting access to economic flows—rents, interest, or capital gains. Put simply: just as a share represents an aliquot part of a company and can be
transferred without affecting the company’s activity, a token represents an economic stake in a real estate project and can be bought or sold without modifying ownership of the underlying property.
In real estate, security tokens are generally divided into two major categories: equity tokens and debt tokens. The difference lies in the nature of the economic right they incorporate.
On the one hand, equity tokens allow the property to be integrated into a special-purpose vehicle whose shares are digitally divided. The investor acquires an economic percentage of the project and participates in the income derived from its operation and its final revaluation. For example, if a company owns a property valued at €500,000, it may issue 5,000 tokens representing the company’s shares, thus allowing flexible entry into the capital. This enables investors to access the project with small amounts, without the high outlay traditionally required in real estate investments.
On the other hand, debt tokens are used to finance acquisitions, renovations or project developments. The developer issues a financial instrument and divides it into multiple tokens representing a credit right with an agreed interest rate and set maturity. Thus, a €200,000 loan can be split into 2,000 tokens of €100, enabling each investor to receive a fixed pre-agreed return. This model can also offer tax efficiencies for developers by avoiding certain costs associated with traditional guarantees or mortgage structures.
Both models are already being applied in major international transactions. One of the most cited examples is the tokenization of the St. Regis Aspen Resort (USA), where equity tokens representing a special-purpose vehicle owning the hotel were issued, raising USD 18 million under a regulated framework.
In Spain, the first real-estate debt tokenization took place in 2020 to finance the renovation of a building in Barcelona. The transaction allowed investors to acquire tokens entitling them to a 7% annual interest and the possibility of trading them on a secondary market, demonstrating the usefulness of the model for financing needs that traditional banks seldom meet.
Based on transactions like these, several platforms have been developed in Spain which, without altering the property’s registry ownership, enable investments through security tokens. Their operation varies depending on the type of project, but they generally follow two main models: platforms oriented toward short-term operations—such as acquisitions, renovations, and quick resales—which structure financing through debt tokens with low entry tickets; and others with a more long-term, asset-management approach, integrating the property into a special-purpose vehicle and issuing equity tokens so investors can participate in periodic rents and the final appreciation of the asset. There are also platforms aimed at more sophisticated investors that combine both instruments in complex projects or prime locations, with higher minimum investments.
Although each model addresses different economic needs, they all share an essential element: they have opened access to real estate investment to previously excluded profiles and have provided developers with new financing pathways complementing traditional banking.
For all these reasons, tokenization represents a truly revolutionary change in the real estate market: it transforms how investment in real assets is structured, financed and accessed, introducing unprecedented liquidity and flexibility into a historically rigid sector. While it does not replace traditional structures, it decisively complements them, allowing the investment to be split, participations to be transferred more easily and dependence on bank financing to be reduced through more dynamic and accessible mechanisms.
In short, this advancement is enabling new ways of understanding economic participation in a property, opening the door to previously excluded investors and promoting the entry of international capital through digitalized and efficient structures. The scale of the change is already measurable: according to Boston Consulting, the global market for tokenization of real-world assets will reach USD 16 billion by 2030,
with annual growth of 63%, confirming that this is not a passing trend but a structural transformation that will continue reshaping the sector in the coming years.
