News
UAE NFT Sector Expected To Grow By Over 45% Per Year
Consumers are increasingly interested in the technology, and businesses are taking notice.
The UAE has long been considered a desirable destination for doing business and is now becoming a global hub in the field of NFTs. The non-fungible token market in the United Arab Emirates is expected to grow by 45.5% annually, having already reached an estimated US$982.1 million by the end of last year. By 2028, the sector could reach a staggering $4.75 billion as the new technology continues to be championed by entrepreneurs, businesses, and celebrities.
“Consumers are interested in buying into stories, in buying into experiences. When you’re buying a product, you’re just buying the physical product. But when you are buying an NFT, you’re buying a whole lot of things that are linked with it,” says Arshad Zaheer, Senior Partner at YAAP.
NFTs sit on the blockchain network, meaning ownership and originality can be confirmed, making the technology ideal for artwork, but also relevant for the legal industry and other sectors where authenticity is required.
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The Middle East and Africa region have seen a surge in NFT-related activities. Several innovative NFT marketplaces have also emerged in MENA countries, including the UAE, making it easier for the general public to buy, sell, and trade digital assets.
“From NFT-based startups to cryptocurrency exchanges, several players are entering the UAE NFT market; the presence of several NFT marketplaces has also supported the rise in NFT trading transaction value and volume, the trend expected to gain further momentum over the next three to four years in the UAE,” says Business Wire in a recent report.
As NFTs begin to hit the mainstream, the opportunities presented by the technology are immense and could even rival the explosive rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
News
Stake Powers Instant Payouts With Checkout.com Pay To Card
The new feature lets investors in the UAE, KSA, and UK receive real estate returns in minutes — cutting withdrawal times to under 10 minutes.
Stake, a leading digital real estate investment platform, has unveiled Pay to Card, a next-generation withdrawal feature built on Checkout.com’s global payment infrastructure. The integration enables investors to have dividends and returns credited directly to their bank cards — often within minutes — dramatically reducing the traditional multi-day payout process.
After a successful pilot in May involving over 200 users, some investors reported receiving their funds in under 10 minutes. Ricardo Brizido, CPTO and Co-Founder of Stake, emphasized the importance of speed and reliability: “With Pay to Card, we’re eliminating unnecessary delays and putting returns in our investors’ hands almost instantly. This feature was built to directly solve one of the most common pain points in real estate investing, and it’s already driving strong results”.
The feature launch coincides with rapid growth in real-time finance across the Middle East. Checkout.com’s “State of Digital Commerce in MENA 2025” report highlights a 388% year-on-year surge in Account Funding Transactions (AFTs) in the UAE, reflecting strong demand for immediate payout solutions. The same study recorded a 176% increase in total processing volume from 2023 to 2024 and noted that daily online transactions have jumped 320% since 2020.
Since its 2021 debut, Stake has facilitated over AED 1 billion in property transactions, advancing its mission to democratize real estate investment in high-growth markets. By integrating Pay to Card, Stake reinforces its commitment to customer-centric innovation and operational transparency.
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Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA at Checkout.com, praised the collaboration: “Stake has always led with customer-first financial experiences. Together, we’re meeting the expectations of a region that is no longer just digital-first, but real-time-first. Pay to Card exemplifies how modern payment infrastructure can directly solve investor pain points”.
Pay to Card is now available to all Stake users in the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. By slashing withdrawal times from days to minutes, Stake and Checkout.com are setting a new standard for seamless, on-demand real estate investing.
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