Saudi Arabia's FDI Reforms Set to Supercharge Tokenisation Market

Saudi Arabia will abolish the Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI) framework on February 1st, marking the most significant liberalisation of its capital markets to date.

The reform, following the 2025 Investment Law, removes the $500 million AUM entry barriers and complex licensing requirements that previously restricted the Tadawul to only the world's largest institutions.

Faisal Al Monai, CEO of droppRWA, a tokenisation platform working closely with the Saudi Government to tokenise various aspects of the economy, said the changes represent a generational opportunity.

"If you're not paying attention to Saudi's markets in 2026, you're missing one of the most important capital market openings in a generation," Al Monai said.

"Removing the QFI gate isn't a technical tweak, it's Saudi lowering the impedance between global capital and the Kingdom's growth engine. It simplifies access, strengthens participation and signals serious intent to make the Tadawul a market the world has to price every day, not visit occasionally."

Blockchain Infrastructure Taking Shape

Al Monai highlighted that Saudi has been upgrading its financial system infrastructure from first principles.

"In November 2025, the real estate regulator REGA announced its own blockchain token standard for property, a world first and a clear signal that Vision 2030 isn't a slogan; it's being encoded into market structure," he said.

"That's the real implication of reforms like this — when ownership and enforceability are strengthened at the market level, RWAs stop being a buzzword and become settlement infrastructure, faster, more auditable and fit for national scale markets across real assets. And that's exactly the direction Saudi is moving."