Crypto: Trump’s Gaza Plan Sparks Controversy Over Land Tokenization

A post-war project plans to rebuild Gaza thanks to crypto. The key points: tokenized lands, smart cities and exchangeable tokens. An ambitious but controversial program that makes blockchain a unique geopolitical tool. More details below!

Tokenized Gaza: Reconstruction Tool or Instrument of Massive Dispossession?

Under the impulse of the Trump administration, a plan called “GREAT Trust” proposes a radical transformation of Gaza. This 38-page project relies on land tokenization to create a new economic model based on crypto. The territory would thus come under American trusteeship for ten years, with the goal of building a fully digital ecosystem.

Each willingly displaced Palestinian would be given a digital token in exchange for their property rights. This crypto asset would grant access to :

• either housing in one of the eight planned smart cities ;
• or financial compensation.

The land data would be recorded on a blockchain to guarantee traceability and property transfer.

The system is based on the sale of these tokens to private investors, attracted by the idea of financing infrastructure in exchange for a return. These assets, tradable on secondary platforms, are presented as a means to rebuild the local economy, but mainly aim to attract crypto users seeking high speculative potential projects.

Humanitarian Crypto or Illegitimate Algorithmic Privatization of a Territory?

Behind the technological veneer, the project raises criticism. Several NGOs indeed see a large-scale digital dispossession. This is the case for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

According to them, this crypto-backed system violates international law. The fact is it relies on population displacements presented as “voluntary” but considered coercive.

Each resident leaving the Gaza Strip would receive :

• $5,000 ;
• four years of housing subsidies ;
• one year of food.

The document thus suggests that the more the number of departures increases, the more profitable the crypto model becomes. A logic that worries observers. They fear a commodification of human rights via blockchain.

Trump’s plan imposes a worrying use of crypto in a post-war territorial control logic. An alarming world first, marked by technological domination and state interests.