UAE's Fasset launches blockchain to promote real world asset ownership

UAE based fintech Fasset has announced the launch of a blockchain to create, manage and real world assets (RWAs).

IOWN – Fasset's Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain – is backed by Labuan Financial Services Authority, the regulator of the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre, in Malaysia. 

The government regulator-backed blockchain aims to democratize access to real world assets for people in emerging markets, the company said in a statement. 

Ethereum Layer 2 blockchains are solutions built on top of an Ethereum blockchain, inheriting its security, whilst aiming to provider cheaper and faster transactions. Such solutions are designed to enhance the scalability of the underlying network. 

Fasset said that the blockchain will enable the “growth of a trusted ecosystem for projects and end users looking to engage with a wide range of real-world assets, from commodities and real estate to publicly traded stocks and bonds”. 

The company aims to target 30 million asset owners through IOWN by the end of the decade.

The company added that a native token - also named IOWN - will be introduced in "the near future". However, no launch date was specified. 

Mohammad Raafi Hossain, CEO and co-founder of Fasset, said that the company’s mission is to foster a future where financial inclusion and empowerment are not privileges but universal rights. 

“With IOWN, the promise of blockchain is fully realized - delivering not just technological innovation, but a tangible impact on global economic disparity, lighting the way for a future where everyone shares the fruits of the digital economy."

Fasset said it has accumulated a substantial digital assets licensing portfolio in emerging markets and has raised a total of $26.7 million in funding. It received a virtual asset service provider licence by Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority.