GRANITE Financial Holding and Tarmiiz Information Technology have entered Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority Regulatory Sandbox to test a model for tokenizing money market fund assets, marking an early blockchain experiment in the country’s asset management sector. The project has received preliminary approval from the FRA and will examine how digital representations of investment fund units could be issued, managed, transferred, and redeemed within a controlled environment. The initiative remains a testing exercise rather than a commercial launch or broad authorization for market deployment.
Testing Tokenized Money Market Funds
The collaboration combines GRANITE’s asset management activities with Tarmiiz’s blockchain and asset tokenization infrastructure to develop an operational model for tokenized money market funds. The companies will work with the FRA to assess how ownership of fund units can be recorded and managed digitally while maintaining regulatory oversight and reliable financial records. The testing will also explore whether tokenization can improve the efficiency and transparency of financial asset ownership.
Regulatory Sandbox Expansion
The project forms part of the FRA’s broader effort to encourage financial technology innovation across Egypt’s non-banking financial services market. Ahmed Khalifa, executive director of the Regulatory Sandbox and the authority’s chief data officer, said nine projects have received preliminary approval during the Sandbox’s first year, from more than 50 submissions. He added that two projects have already progressed to actual testing, reflecting growing interest in testing financial technologies under regulatory supervision.
The Sandbox gives companies and entrepreneurs a controlled setting to test new financial products and technologies before any wider rollout. Khalifa said the framework is intended to connect innovation with practical implementation while helping financial markets respond more effectively to changing customer needs. It also allows the FRA to assess emerging technologies while maintaining oversight of investor protection, market stability, and operational risks.
Combining Asset Management and Blockchain
For GRANITE, the initiative extends its efforts to examine how technology can support liquidity management and investment products. Founder and CEO Hisham Akram said the Sandbox offers an opportunity to evaluate the regulatory and operational considerations involved in applying tokenization to financial assets. He added that tokenization is attracting growing global attention as institutions explore new approaches to capital market infrastructure and asset management.
Tarmiiz will contribute the blockchain infrastructure used to create and manage digital representations of assets within the proposed model. Chairperson and Co-Founder Amr Soliman said the project will allow the company to validate asset tokenization applications in a regulated environment and identify requirements for broader implementation. Its role will focus on testing systems for registering, managing, and potentially transferring ownership of tokenized fund units.
Potential Market Applications
Beyond money market funds, the project could provide insights into how tokenization may be applied to other financial products and processes in Egypt. Potential applications include strengthening asset ownership records, supporting lifecycle management, and exploring whether tokenized assets could be used in financial transaction settlement. Any wider adoption would depend on the results of the testing phase and the FRA’s assessment of the framework needed for implementation.
The initiative comes as the FRA prepares to review the first year of its Regulatory Sandbox and the role of financial technology in non-banking financial services. The authority is scheduled to hold its annual FRA Sandbox Summit on September 7, where it is expected to showcase supported projects and discuss lessons from the program. The experience gained could help the regulator refine its approach to emerging technologies and clarify pathways for future market use.
GRANITE and Tarmiiz’s admission to the FRA Regulatory Sandbox represents an early-stage test of whether tokenized money market funds can operate within Egypt’s regulated financial system. The immediate objective is to establish the technical, operational, and regulatory requirements needed for the model while preserving appropriate investor safeguards. If the trial proves workable, it could provide a reference point for broader use of tokenization across Egypt’s capital markets and non-banking financial services sector.