Dubai’s Emaar Group is leveraging the significant potential of blockchain technology with plans to offer the Emaar community token for customers and partners by the end of this year.
“We continuously strive to expand our reach, strengthen our growth and extend the Emaar experience. We have embraced the digital world even as we continue to build the most advanced and innovative physical structures and we use both to delight and benefit our customers and stakeholders globally. The Emaar community token marks a significant leap in our digital transformation journey,” said Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties.
The Emaar community token will allow Emaar’s customers and stakeholders to reap the value of a full referral and loyalty system across the entire group, cementing the global brand and opening the Emaar experience potentially to billions of internet users.
This will be among the first referral and loyalty tokens in the world giving access to an existing operational ecosystem of close to US$10 billion, and an initial coin offering in Europe (ICO) will be considered within 12 months of the internal operational launch of the platform.
The developer of the iconic Burj Khalifa, The Dubai Mall, Dubai Opera, The Dubai Fountain and premium lifestyle communities is also the world’s largest property company outside China, and the largest by listed market capitalisation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region under the MSCI EM Index. Emaar grew revenues by 37 percent in 2018 to US$7 billion and its brand value by 39 percent to US$2.7 billion, placing it among the highest tier brands in the world.
Swiss-based Lykke AG is leading the technology build of Emaar’s community token based on the Ethereum blockchain and the ERC20 token framework. The token will be transferable across the entire global Emaar ecosystem, including real estate, malls, hospitality, entertainment, facilities management and online shopping.
Richard Olsen, Founder and CEO of Lykke, said:
“We have developed cutting edge technology infrastructure with mass-market usability to support our core belief that all mobile and internet users should be able to participate in economic activity, regardless of size of contribution. We are thrilled to leverage our experience and expertise to support Emaar’s mission to bring value and utility to millions of users globally.”
Emaar Properties PJSC, listed on the Dubai Financial Market, is a global property developer and provider of premium lifestyles, with a significant presence in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. One of the world’s largest real estate companies, Emaar has a land bank of 1.6 billion sq ft in the UAE and key international markets.
With a proven track record in delivery, Emaar has delivered over 51,800 residential units in Dubai and other global markets since 2002. Emaar has strong recurring revenue generating assets with over 915,000 square metres of leasing revenue generating assets and 19 hotels and resorts with 3,939 rooms. Today, around 40 percent of the Emaar’s revenue is from its shopping malls & retail, hospitality & leisure and international subsidiaries.
Burj Khalifa, a global icon, and The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination, are among Emaar’s trophy developments. Emaar has launched Dubai Creek Tower, a magnificent icon that will serve as the centrepiece of the Dubai Creek Harbour development, as well as Dubai Square, the retail metropolis of the future.
Lykke AG was founded and continues to be run by Richard Olsen, one of the early pioneers of the use of blockchain technology, having created asset-backed tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain prior to Ethereum’s creation. Lykke is focused on bringing financial technology to the masses, with users of its mobile app and token exchange platform benefiting from decades of knowledge gained in servicing retail clients globally. Mr Olsen previously founded the first retail-focused foreign exchange platform Oanda in 1995, which was sold to private equity in 2018.
For more information on Lykke AG, 2 Baarerstrasse, 6300 Zug, Switzerland, please visit www.lykke.com
