When Christie’s can use Crypto Assets to buy houses, a new milestone in the RWA track.

With Crypto added, playing real estate is like playing 'Monopoly'.

Written by: BUBBLE, Rhythm

"Buy land, they're not making it anymore." This quote, mistakenly attributed to Mark Twain in the 20th century, has been frequently used as a slogan in the real estate sales field. Gravity strongly endorses this statement; if humanity cannot achieve interstellar travel, land, like Bitcoin, "cannot be inflated."

In 2025, the wave of cryptocurrency spread from Silicon Valley to Wall Street and ultimately impacted Washington, as compliance gradually progressed, it also began to quietly change the fundamental structure of the real estate industry. In early July, Christie’s International Real Estate officially established a dedicated department for cryptocurrency property transactions, becoming the world's first mainstream luxury real estate brokerage brand to fully support "pure digital currency payments for property purchases" in the name of a corporation.

And this is just the beginning. From Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to Dubai developers, from luxury homes in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles to rental apartments in Spain, a number of real estate trading platforms centered around blockchain technology and digital assets are emerging, forming a new "Crypto Real Estate" track.

How Cryptocurrency Can Drive the Next Wave in the U.S. Real Estate Market

The value of real estate in the United States is nearing $50 trillion in 2024, making it one of the most significant asset markets in the world. This figure was approximately $23 trillion a decade ago in 2014, meaning the asset scale in this sector has doubled over the past ten years.

Overall volume of US real estate, Awealthofcommonsense analysis report

In June 2025, the NAR report showed that the median home price in the United States reached $435,300, an increase of 2% compared to the same period last year. The housing inventory was approximately 1.53 million units, with a supply-demand balance of 4.7 months. High home prices combined with a long-term supply shortage have raised the barrier to entry, along with persistently high mortgage rates (the average 30-year fixed rate in July 2025 was around 6.75%, while Bitcoin mortgages are currently about 9%) consistently exceeding the annual increase in property value, which has suppressed transaction volume and low liquidity is prompting property investors to seek new sources of liquidity.

High interest rates not only hinder the low liquidity issues faced by real estate investors. Over the past five years, the average wealth of property owners has increased by $140,000. However, many families are reluctant to use their real estate assets as collateral for loans to release liquidity, as their monetization paths are generally limited to two options: selling the entire asset or renting it out. Given the current interest rates, borrowing against property does not seem like a good choice, and selling under the continuously rising property prices also does not appear to be a better investment decision.

Therefore, in the overall $50 trillion real estate market, currently about 70% of the equity (approximately $34.98 trillion) is owned by holders, which means that only 30% is supported by borrowed funds, while the rest is the buyer's own funds. For example, if a family owns a property worth $500,000, although nominally they own this property, if they want to sell it, they need to deduct the portion that is financed to determine their actual ownership. In the case of 70% equity, they own $350,000 of equity in this property.

U.S. real estate equity holdings, source: Ycharts

However, merely having a supply and demand relationship is far from sufficient. The concept of RWA has developed for many years, but it only truly began to explode in the past two years, especially after the increase in the slope of the rise following Trump's election in 2025.

The core is compliance, especially for investors in low-liquidity assets like real estate. The new director of FHFA, William Paul, ordered in March 2025 that mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac develop plans to allow the inclusion of crypto assets in reserve assets when assessing the risk of single-family mortgages, without the need to convert them into USD first. This policy encourages banks to view cryptocurrencies as assets that can be counted as savings, thereby expanding the borrower base.

In July 2025, Trump signed the GENIUS Act and promoted the CLARITY Act. The GENIUS Act first recognizes stablecoins as legitimate digital currencies, requiring stablecoins to be fully backed 1:1 by USD or secure assets like short-term government bonds, and mandates third-party audits. The CLARITY Act seeks to clarify whether digital tokens are considered securities or commodities, providing a regulatory pathway for practitioners.

These sets of combination punches provide a greater security margin for the field. Coupled with the real estate's scarcity attribute similar to Bitcoin that "cannot be inflated" (land cannot be increased, but properties can; building houses is akin to mining), it makes the combination of the two easier. Digitalization helps to break down high barriers. One of the Big Four accounting firms, Deloitte, predicted in its financial sector report that by 2035, approximately $4 trillion worth of real estate could be tokenized, which is far higher than the less than $300 billion in 2024.

Tokenization can break down large real estate assets into smaller shares, providing global investors with a low-threshold, high-liquidity way to participate, while also creating cash flow for sellers and buyers who originally lacked funds. That said, the figure of 40 trillion, while attractive, is debatable just like the institutional prediction that ETH's market cap will reach 85 trillion in the future. But to what extent has it really developed? We might find some alpha in the market.

Fragmentation? Lending? Renting? Providing liquidity? Play real estate like playing DeFi.

Unlike low-liquidity tangible assets such as gold and art, real estate inherently possesses financial attributes. Its integration with Crypto has further diversified these attributes.

Although there have been attempts before, the collaboration between the Harbor platform and RealT in 2018, which launched a blockchain-based real estate tokenization service, is considered one of the earlier and more substantial real estate tokenization projects.

Specifically, the RealT platform divides property rights into tradable RealTokens through blockchain technology. Each property is owned by an independent company (Inc/LLC), and investors purchasing RealTokens essentially hold a portion of the company's shares and enjoy rental income proportionally. The platform utilizes Ethereum's authorized issuance mechanism, which lowers the investment threshold (usually around $50), and both transactions and rental payments are completed on-chain, relieving investors from the daily management tasks of traditional landlords. RealT distributes rental income to holders weekly in the form of stablecoins (USDC or xDAI).

The expected returns come from the Return on Net Assets (RONA), which is the annual net rental income divided by the total property investment. For example, if the expected annual rental income of a property is $66,096 after expenses, with a total investment of $880,075, then the RONA is 7.51%. This value does not include leverage or property appreciation gains. Currently, the average return on this platform fluctuates between 6% and 16%.

After tokenization, the next step is naturally to apply it. RealT's properties are not mortgaged, and all funds come from the sale of RealTokens. However, to allow holders to flexibly utilize their assets, RealT has launched the RMM (Real Estate Money Market) module.

RMM is based on the Aave protocol, and you can do two things with it. First, you can provide liquidity, just like LP interest in DeFi. Investors can deposit USDC or XDAI into RMM and receive corresponding ArmmTokens, which accumulate interest in real-time. Second, you can borrow by collateralizing RealTokens. You can use the RealTokens or stablecoins you hold as collateral to borrow assets like XDAI. There are also two options for borrowing rates: a stable rate (similar to a short-term fixed rate but adjusts when utilization is too high or the rate is too low) and a variable rate (which fluctuates based on market supply and demand).

Opening up the lending pathway means leveraging, similar to how real estate investment groups borrowed money to buy properties over a decade ago, using mortgage loans to buy more properties. By collateralizing RealToken to borrow stablecoins and then purchasing RealToken again, this can be repeated multiple times to increase overall returns. It is important to note that with each additional layer of leverage, the health factor decreases and the risk increases.

Note: The health factor is the inverse of the ratio of collateral value to loan value; the higher the health factor, the lower the liquidation risk. When the health factor drops to 1, it means that the collateral value equals the loan value, which may trigger liquidation. Ways to avoid liquidation include repaying part of the loan or adding collateral. (Similar to the margin in perpetual contracts)

In addition to real estate being used as "collateral" for loans, recent discussions have increasingly focused on using native crypto assets for mortgage lending to buy homes. Fintech company Milo allows borrowers to obtain mortgages of up to 100% loan-to-value ratio using Bitcoin as collateral. By early 2025, it has completed $65 million in crypto mortgage transactions, with total loans issued exceeding $250 million. On the policy front, this model is also receiving a "green light"; the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has required mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider compliant crypto assets in their risk assessments. Although interest rates for crypto mortgages are generally close to or even slightly higher than traditional mortgages, their main appeal lies in the ability to finance without having to sell crypto assets.

A survey by Redfin shows that after the pandemic, about 12% of first-time homebuyers in the U.S. used cryptocurrency gains to pay for their down payments (from sales or mortgage borrowing). Coupled with the shift in policy direction, this will undoubtedly attract "big companies to enter the market," and "Crypto Real Estate" is also seeing the first involvement of high-end real estate economic firms.

In July 2025, Christie's International Real Estate pioneered the establishment of the world's first luxury real estate division focused on cryptocurrency, becoming a landmark case of the integration of traditional high-end real estate agencies with digital assets. Interestingly, this initiative did not originate from a top-down strategic push but was in response to the genuine needs of high-net-worth clients.

Christie's executives stated, "An increasing number of affluent buyers wish to complete real estate transactions directly with digital assets, prompting the company to take advantage of this trend by establishing a service framework that supports full-process crypto payments." In Southern California, Christie's has completed multiple luxury home transactions entirely paid in cryptocurrency, totaling over $200 million, all at the "eight-figure" level of top-tier residences. Currently, Christie's portfolio of crypto-friendly properties is valued at over $1 billion, covering numerous luxury homes that are willing to accept "pure cryptocurrency offers."

One of the properties that accepts pure cryptocurrency payments, the $118 million mansion "La Fin" located in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, features 12 bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, a 6,000 square foot nightclub, a private wine cellar, a sub-zero vodka tasting room, a cigar lounge, and a gym with a climbing wall. It was previously listed at a price of $139 million, source: realtor

Christie's cryptocurrency real estate division not only offers payment channels based on mainstream crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, but also collaborates with custodians and legal teams to ensure transactions are completed within a compliant framework. This includes cryptocurrency payment custody, tax and compliance support, and asset matching (a bespoke portfolio of crypto properties that meets the specific investment needs of high-net-worth clients).

Christie's Real Estate CEO Aaron Kirman predicts that "over the next five years, more than one-third of residential real estate transactions in the U.S. may involve cryptocurrency." Christie's shift indirectly confirms the penetration of crypto assets among high-net-worth individuals and signals a structural transformation in traditional real estate transaction models.

Infrastructure is improving, but it seems that "user" education still has a long way to go.

So far, the tokenization of real estate projects has taken shape, but it seems to still fall short of the expected standard. RealT has tokenized over 970 rental properties to date, bringing users nearly $30 million in net rental income; while Lofty has tokenized 148 properties across 11 states, attracting about 7,000 monthly active users who share approximately $2 million in rental income annually through holding tokens. The scale of several projects is hovering around tens of millions to hundreds of millions, and the delay in breakthroughs may have multiple underlying reasons.

On one hand, blockchain indeed allows transactions to break free from geographical restrictions, enabling cross-border instant settlements, and the transaction fees are lower compared to traditional property transfer costs. However, investors need to understand that this is not a "zero-cost" ecosystem: token minting fees, asset management fees, trading commissions, network fees, and potential capital gains taxes make up a new cost structure. Compared to the "one-stop service" provided by traditional real estate agents and lawyers, crypto real estate requires investors to proactively learn and understand smart contracts, on-chain custody, and crypto tax rules.

On the other hand, while liquidity is a selling point, it comes with higher volatility. Tokenized properties can be traded around the clock in the secondary market, allowing investors not only to receive rental income but also to exit their positions at any time. However, when liquidity is insufficient, the token price may be significantly higher or lower than the true valuation of the property itself. Market fluctuations can even occur faster than the cycles of physical real estate, increasing the speculative nature of short-term trading.

In addition, many platforms have introduced DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) governance, allowing investors to vote on matters such as rent and maintenance. This sense of participation is similar to "playing Monopoly", lowering the threshold and enhancing interactivity, but it also places new demands on users: they not only need to understand property management but also must possess awareness of on-chain governance and compliance. Without sufficient education, investors may misjudge risks and view digital real estate as a short-term arbitrage tool rather than a long-term asset allocation.

In other words, the real barrier to cryptocurrency real estate lies not in technology, but in understanding. Users need to grasp knowledge such as collateral rates, liquidation mechanisms, on-chain governance, and tax declaration, which represents a disruptive change for groups accustomed to traditional home-buying models.

As regulations become clearer, platform experiences improve, and mainstream financial institutions get involved, the future of crypto real estate is expected to shorten this educational curve. However, in the foreseeable years, the industry still needs to invest more resources in user training, risk control education, and compliance guidance to truly transition "crypto real estate" from a niche experiment to widespread adoption.