UAE-based ASK Group and U.S. blockchain company Keeta launched a joint venture to tokenize physical Gulf commodities including oil, gold, silver and copper onto a public exchange by 2027. The partnership aims to democratize direct asset ownership by converting physical reserves into fractional digital tokens backed 1-to-1 by audited supplies, offering 400-millisecond settlement times to global investors. The UAE serves as a critical remittance hub anchoring the $20 billion annual UAE-India corridor, positioning the initiative to modernize cross-border payment flows across the Middle East and Africa region.
According to a news release, the platform will enable retail and institutional investors to purchase fractions of commodities with real-time, on-chain proof of reserves. Sheikh Ahmed bin Sultan bin Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the ASK Group stated, "This partnership is a long-term commitment to building the infrastructure that will define how trillions of dollars in real-world assets move."
Keeta Blockchain Processes 11.2 Million Transactions Per Second
Keeta's technical infrastructure achieved a verified 11.2 million transactions per second in stress tests conducted alongside Google's Spanner engineering team. The joint venture will deploy an "anchor model" allowing licensed commercial banks, exchange houses and remittance providers to link into Keeta's Layer 1 network via a single software development kit. Regional financial institutions can bypass traditional intermediary banks and execute cross-border transfers in less than half a second using the unified integration.
Ty Schenk, founder and chief executive of Keeta, said, "Together we are going to take assets and payment flows that have operated the same way for decades and put them on rails built for the next century." The initiative targets the Middle East's high-volume cross-border remittance market, with the UAE serving as an origination hub for pipelines to Pakistan, the Philippines and Kenya alongside the $20 billion UAE-India corridor.
Platform Embeds Jurisdictional Controls in Commodity Tokens
Keeta's network features a native identity and regulatory architecture addressing compliance requirements. Asset issuers can embed transfer restrictions, jurisdictional controls and investor accreditation rules directly into the commodity tokens. The network automatically enforces these parameters on subsequent transactions, eliminating third-party compliance intermediaries.
ASK Group Manages Expansion Across UAE, MEA and India
Under the exclusive agreement, ASK Group will manage and scale Keeta's operational footprint across the UAE, the broader Middle East and Africa region, and India. Initial phases will focus on launching the UAE blueprint before expanding tokenization models to broader Gulf Cooperation Council markets.
FAQ
What commodities will ASK Group and Keeta tokenize by 2027?
The joint venture plans to tokenize physical Gulf commodities including oil, gold, silver and copper onto a public exchange by 2027. The platform will convert these physical assets into fractional digital tokens backed 1-to-1 by audited reserves.
How fast does Keeta's blockchain process transactions?
Keeta's Layer 1 blockchain achieved a verified 11.2 million transactions per second in stress tests conducted alongside Google's Spanner engineering team. The network enables cross-border transfers in less than half a second with 400-millisecond settlement times.
