Donald Trump’s latest foray into Middle East diplomacy has taken a strikingly futuristic turn, with reports emerging that the former U.S. president is backing a Gaza peace plan centered on blockchain technology and tokenized land ownership. The proposal, known as the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust—abbreviated as the GREAT Trust—has ignited both intrigue and outrage, as it seeks to reshape the war-torn enclave through a combination of digital innovation and sweeping redevelopment.
According to reporting from CoinCentral and The Washington Post, the heart of the GREAT Trust plan is to tokenize Gaza’s land. In practical terms, this means splitting the territory into digital units, each recorded on a blockchain and representing fractional ownership. These units would be traded as tokens on secondary markets, with investors able to purchase them and, in turn, fund a series of ambitious development projects. For the roughly two million Gazans, the plan offers digital tokens in exchange for their current land rights. These tokens could then be redeemed for apartments in newly constructed, AI-powered smart cities—or, alternatively, for cash payments and relocation abroad.
The plan’s vision is nothing short of dazzling on paper. The 38-page GREAT Trust document outlines up to eight smart cities powered by artificial intelligence, along with ten large-scale infrastructure projects: ports, highways, a railway, a state-of-the-art data center, resort-style islands, and even a smart manufacturing zone. The proposal pitches Gaza as a “blockchain-powered, low-tax investment zone,” hoping to attract foreign investment on an unprecedented scale. For displaced families, the plan promises $5,000 in cash plus multi-year rent and food subsidies, attempting to sweeten what would be a monumental transition.
But as with so many grand designs for the region, the devil is in the details—and, perhaps even more so, in the ethical and legal ramifications. Critics have not minced words. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a leading U.S. Muslim civil rights organization, delivered a scathing assessment: “The takeover of Gaza and the mass theft of Palestinian land through a digital token scheme is morally abhorrent and illegal under international law—a war crime of historic proportions.” Palestinian activists and experts have echoed this sentiment, with Dr. Ashok Kumar of Tech for Palestine likening the plan to “vultures circling a dying body,” and declaring, “It is not just grotesque. It is evil.”
These critics argue that the plan amounts to incentivized displacement—stripping Gazans of their land rights under the guise of technological progress. Many see it less as a pathway to peace and more as a form of digital colonialism, where the promise of blockchain transparency masks a deeper injustice. Indeed, as LiveBitcoinNews notes, Gaza’s residents have overwhelmingly expressed a desire to remain in their homes, not to trade them for tokens or distant apartments.
Supporters of the GREAT Trust proposal, however, see things differently. They argue that tokenization could finally bring property rights in Gaza into the 21st century, offering a level of transparency and accountability previously impossible in such a fraught context. Proponents suggest that by leveraging blockchain, the plan could sidestep the institutional bureaucracies that have long stymied more traditional peace efforts. As one Trump adviser reportedly put it, this digital approach is designed to “circumvent institutional bureaucracies interfering with more traditional methods of making peace.”
The economic context for this proposal is, in some ways, ripe for experimentation. Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization has been booming, with on-chain RWA value recently hitting $17.1 billion—a 94% increase year-over-year, according to LiveBitcoinNews. Wall Street is eyeing a potential $30 trillion market for tokenized assets, and the technology has already begun to reshape how property and debt are bought and sold globally. That said, the leap from financial innovation to geopolitical solution is a big one, and experts are quick to highlight the gulf between theory and reality.
For starters, the technical and legal hurdles are formidable. Any attempt to tokenize land in Gaza would almost certainly fall under the scrutiny of U.S. securities law. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has underscored that “tokenized securities are still securities,” meaning such tokens would require registration or special exemptions. The regulatory challenges don’t stop there: the ethical use of funds, compliance with international law, and the risk of exacerbating existing inequalities all loom large. No major exchange or institutional investor has signaled support for a Gaza token offering, citing the enormous political risk and human rights concerns involved.
Political and diplomatic complexities further cloud the plan’s prospects. The proposal remains at the concept stage, and key organizations originally linked to it—such as the Boston Consulting Group and the Tony Blair Institute—have since distanced themselves. As The Washington Post reports, the plan’s adoption is far from certain, with transnational and regional politics posing significant obstacles. The idea that blockchain and crypto can operate as politically neutral tools is being put to the test in a context where every move is intensely scrutinized.
Meanwhile, the crypto markets themselves have remained relatively unfazed by the political storm. Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to hover near multi-week highs, and the broader surge in RWA tokenization rolls on. Yet the Gaza plan has undeniably underscored a broader lesson: technology, no matter how cutting-edge, cannot be separated from the political and human realities on the ground. As LiveBitcoinNews points out, even the most innovative funding models are no substitute for genuine consent and local agency.
For now, the GREAT Trust proposal sits at a crossroads—hailed by some as a bold leap into the future, condemned by others as a dangerous experiment with people’s lives and rights. Whether blockchain can ever serve as a bridge to peace in Gaza remains an open question, but one thing is clear: the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and human rights is only growing more complex with each passing year.
The world will be watching closely to see whether this digital vision for Gaza is realized—or whether it becomes just another ambitious idea left on the drawing board.
