New digital token will be linked to global freshwater resources
Last updated: June 17, 2025
DMCC has made its name as being the hub for commodities and crypto companies. Now, it’s making a move into digital tokens – backed by water resources.
Dubai: A Dubai free zone is getting involved in what will be the world’s first digital token linked to water resources.
DMCC has signed up an MoU with Aqua-Index, which is into water commodities trading. The collaboration will support Aqua-Index’s initiative to launch the ‘world’s first digital asset token backed directly by freshwater resources’. The intent to give a makeover to ‘how water is traded, valued, and managed globally’.
The token is backed by ‘verified’ drinking-quality water stored in global reservoirs. It will enable investors, hedgers, traders and even the public to trade, hold and take delivery of fresh water as a commodity.
“The partnership offers a practical mechanism for unlocking new liquidity and transparency in global water supply chains,” said a statement.
Aqua-Index will ‘enhance the availability and exchange of knowledge around global water usage and pricing and provide access to essential trading and hedging products for DMCC and its member companies’, the statement said.
DMCC will not directly own or manage the token itself.
‘DMCC Water Centre’
According to Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC, “Nearly half the global population experiences water scarcity for at least part of the year, yet water remains the only critical resource without a mature, regulated market.
“We are proud to partner with Aqua-Index to drive a transparent, neutral, and legally coherent structure and marketplace for water to secure the future of a resource that has long been undervalued.
“This is the next clear milestone in the formation of ‘DMCC Water Centre’, where we will not only bring the conversation of water to the forefront, but also attract the sector’s leading companies to create a global centre in Dubai for water innovation.”
