Navigating the Shift from Real Estate to Bitcoin: Redefining How Humanity Saves, Builds Wealth, and Lives
The Bitcoin Newsletter 30
Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at my first non-Bitcoin conference, where I addressed over 1,000 real estate investors in Toronto. My presentation focused on navigating the shift from real estate to Bitcoin, exploring how this transformative change could redefine the future of saving, wealth-building, and living. VIDEO
I was invited by Tom Karadza and Nick Karadza of Rock Star Real Estate, a leading brokerage in the Toronto area that hosts biannual events to offer clients and members valuable insights into real estate investment and emerging trends.
Alongside me, Ben (aka BTC Sessions) and Francis Pouliot from Bull Bitcoin were also featured. The audience was eager for genuine Bitcoin education and had a clear understanding of its benefits. I was truly impressed by how openly Bitcoin was embraced, particularly its potential to revolutionize real estate development and management.
This enthusiasm speaks volumes about Rock Star Real Estate’s influence: with over a decade of success as both a brokerage and an investing community, their podcast, newsletter, and tens of thousands of members have fostered a supportive environment for learning the nuances of real estate investing. Their warm welcome and excitement for Bitcoin’s potential demonstrate that the tide is indeed turning.
Bitcoin is going mainstream, and it’s primarily self‑sovereign investors, those who take charge of their own finances—who are leading the way. Just two or three years ago, many real estate investors would routinely decline to engage with me about Bitcoin, today I’m greeted with open arms, genuine interest, and a healthy dose of skepticism. Below, I’ll share the key insights from my presentation.
In Part I, I’ll compare the investment thesis behind real estate and Bitcoin, and reveal fresh, never-before‑shared findings from my research for my upcoming book Digital Real Estate, set to be released in Q4 of this year.
Then, in Part II, I’ll dive into detailed articles on Bitcoin strategies tailored for real estate investors, offering you the chance to explore the topics that matter most to you.
As always, this newsletter offers both in-depth insights in the DEEP DIVE section and a broad overview of various topics related to Bitcoin, philosophy, ethics, and the future of money. Be sure to explore the familiar WORTH TO KNOW and IDEAS OF INTEREST sections below, where I’ve curated a list of intriguing content I’ve explored over the past few weeks.
Best regards,
Leon
DEEP DIVE
Navigating the Shift from Real Estate to Bitcoin: Redefining How Humanity Saves, Builds Wealth, and Lives
Introduction
When I discuss bitcoin’s transformative potential as a digital store of value with my real-estate colleagues, most initially dismiss it as impossible. Yet, my goal is not to insist on being right, but to understand reality without being limited by an ideological framework.
The Austrian School of Economics
The Austrian School of Economics teaches us that money is defined by its functions and the corresponding demand for it, rather than by what it ought to be.
Carl Menger’s 1871 work, Principles of Economics, laid the foundation for understanding the qualities of sound money and has provided the basis for recognizing and naming economic changes from first principles.
This perspective contrasts with more pervasive economic schools that often favor certain ideological frameworks, rather than focusing on first principles.
Personal Experience
As someone who grew up in the real estate development business, I spent a decade experiencing firsthand the impact of Bitcoin on project development. I witnessed the investment thesis of real estate, previously considered the optimal store of value, shift as Bitcoin emerged.
My goal is to help you navigate this paradigm shift by providing a clear understanding of what is happening and offering practical strategies for dealing with it.
PART I: INVESTMENT THESIS – BITCOIN VS. REAL ESTATE
Bitcoin’s status as an absolutely scarce, liquid, and superior digital store of value is well known among Bitcoiners. Yet, people’s subjective preferences lead them to diversify their investments, meaning that real estate, as a traditional store of value, won’t simply vanish but will evolve.
The Internet of Value: Bitcoin as Digital Real Estate
The investment thesis behind real estate and that supporting bitcoin are remarkably similar. For centuries, real estate values have been driven by the economic strength of a locality combined with the simple forces of demand and scarcity.
Torontonians pour capital into their city’s most sought-after neighborhoods, Canadians cast a wider net across Greater Toronto, and global investors compete for limited New York properties—each market’s price propelled upward by high demand meeting tight supply.
In a comparable way, bitcoin draws its value from its global demand. It is absolutely scarce, highly desirable, and accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Bitcoin remains in the early stages of monetization, with substantial growth potential yet to be realized.
To illustrate, consider a building in downtown Hamburg, Germany: in the 1960s, it cost 70,000 Deutsche Marks, and today its value has soared to 7,000,000—a 200-fold increase.
Part of this dramatic gain reflects the 2:1 conversion of the Deutsche Mark into the Euro when Germany adopted the new currency in 1999. This underscores that bitcoin still has a lot of growth ahead of it. Its growth is expected to outpace that of real estate, due to Bitcoin’s global scale and absolute scarcity, which set it apart.
Bitcoin is essentially the digitalization of value: it enables possession at the protocol level, transforming the Internet of Information into an Internet of Value. This paradigm shift is one that new investors must grasp to appreciate Bitcoin’s full potential.
Bedrock of the Global Fiat-Based Financial System
Next to the 10-year US Treasury, real estate has long stood as the bedrock of the global financial system. Consequently, the paradigm shift that Bitcoin introduces to real estate is not merely about property; it signals a broader transformation in global finance that will influence a wide range of asset classes.
We will concentrate on real estate.
Real Estate Prices are Driven More by Monetary Premium Than By Utility
Jeff Booth recently shared an image illustrating this phenomenon: In 1944, the average home price in the US was around $4,000, whereas today it exceeds $400,000, a nominal increase of about 100 times. This dramatic escalation underscores how real estate has deviated from its utility value, making housing progressively unaffordable.
In medieval times, a middle-class family in the Rhineland could purchase a modest home with just one year's wage; a carpenter’s house cost roughly 150 Gulden, which is approximately $50,000 in today’s terms—essentially one year’s income for a skilled worker.
By contrast, in 2024 the median price for a US home is over $400,000, while the median household income is around $80,000. Importantly, $80,000 represents the earnings of two people, meaning that the financial burden of homeownership today is roughly eight times that of medieval times, requiring more than a decade’s wages for purchase.
This stark contrast highlights the negative consequences of the fiat system, and also demonstrates that the rising standard of living we enjoy is largely due to entrepreneurial innovation rather than the merits of fiat money itself.
Savvy investors know this and protect themselves by acquiring scarce assets; traditionally, this has primarily meant real estate, but today, bitcoin is emerging as a compelling alternative, offering a far superior store of value.
Real Estate’s Rising Valuation Reflects the Debasement of Fiat Currency
Real estate prices, both residential and commercial, tend to mirror changes in the monetary supply. For example, while the US M2 money supply has grown at an average rate of about 7% per year, residential real estate has appreciated roughly 6% annually and commercial real estate by about 4.5%.
This pattern highlights a troubling trend: as fiat currencies are continuously debased through an increasing money supply, property values rise in nominal terms, often outpacing the real income growth experienced by workers. The consequences of this dynamic are significant. Wages have not kept pace with inflation, meaning that even as property values climb, the average income remains stagnant.
This growing disconnect between asset prices and earnings has led to rampant asset inflation, pricing out entire generations from homeownership, perpetuating wealth inequality and limiting economic mobility.
Bitcoin Reacts to Monetary Expansion, Amplified Due to Absolute Scarcity
Bitcoin provides an easier accessible way to store and use value. Traditionally, real estate has served as the go-to store of value, with prices growing roughly 6% per year over the past 50 years. When leverage is applied, returns can be amplified to 20–30%.
Bitcoin’s hard cap of 21 million allows it to significantly outpace the expansion of the broader money supply, delivering strong returns even without leverage. Bitcoin has achieved a compound annual growth rate of over 50% in the past decade.
While real estate is only relatively scarce, and often artificially so due to government regulations and zoning laws, Bitcoin's is absolutely scarce. It also grows with increasing global productivity, driven by advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation.
This means that as technological progress accelerates, Bitcoin’s value has the potential to rise in tandem, offering broad-based benefits across the economy, because it is widely accessible.
In contrast to real estate, which grows ever less affordable over time, bitcoin remains accessible even if it reaches $10 or even $100 million per coin, thanks to its superior divisibility as digital information.
PART II: BITCOIN STRATEGIES FOR REAL ESTATE ENTREPRENEURS
Whats is To Come
In order to successfully navigate the paradigm shift from real estate, traditionally the world's primary store of value and collateral, to bitcoin, I have developed a series of strategies that I want to share with you.
These strategies are built on a set of core principles designed to harness bitcoin’s unique advantages as a scarce and resilient asset.
Below you will find in-depth articles and a model on the individual strategies, giving you the opportunity to dive deep into the areas you deem important:
Effects of Including Bitcoin in Your Maintenance Reserves:
Bitcoin maintenance reserves are a long-term treasury management strategy for real estate investors outside the uncertainty of the inflationary fiat system.
Bitcoin & Real Estate 101: Maintenance ReservesThe Economics of Refinancing Real Estate to Buy Bitcoin
Real estate developers usually refinance finished properties that have appreciated in price. Instead of reinvesting in real estate, the funds obtained through refinancing can be used to purchase bitcoin.
Real Estate Refinancing: The Economics of Leverage When Buying BitcoinBitcoin’s Role as Collateral in Real Estate Development
Both functions, store of value and collateral, are closely linked. Why would a bank, or anyone else, accept collateral that loses value over the long term?
In this context, bitcoin emerges as a valuable long-term collateral option to enhance creditworthiness and facilitate ongoing borrowing for construction, production or maintenance purposes across all industries.
Learn How Bitcoin Can Improve Your Real Estate Portfolio Performance:
Try our Bitcoin & Real Estate Portfolio Value Estimator
Bitcoin’s Role as Collateral in Real Estate DevelopmentAffordable Housing and a Resilient Financial System
One of the biggest challenges is affordable housing. Bitcoin offers a promising solution because it digitizes the store-of-value function that real estate currently plays, potentially causing property values to eventually align more closely with their utility value.
Addressing the housing crisis stands out as one of Bitcoin’s most promising applications from a socio-economic perspective.
In addition, the dual collateralization of real estate and bitcoin can create a more resilient financial system. Bitcoin's volatility ensures that the system constantly sheds excess leverage, making it increasingly resilient over time. A quality that real estate lacks.
Bitcoin: A Solution To The Housing CrisisHow Bitcoin Mining can Benefit Real Estate
Real estate development and management are among the most energy-intensive industries, with significant demands on resources for construction, maintenance, and daily operations. From the high energy consumption involved in manufacturing building materials and running machinery for construction to the ongoing costs of heating, cooling, and lighting buildings.
By integrating Bitcoin mining with real estate, property owners and developers can benefit from reduced energy costs, enhanced operational efficiency, and the potential for generating additional, bitcoin denominated, income.
Conclusion
The traditional financial system, underpinned by perpetual credit expansion, is showing signs of strain. Exemplified by the problems that the real estate market is currently experiencing.
As a long-term debt cycle comes to an end, as we are currently experiencing, real estate faces rising costs for construction and maintenance, alongside decreasing demand due to higher rates to counterbalance price inflation.
Holding bitcoin in your treasury is one of the most effective safeguards against business failure.
Bitcoin can help to stabilize the real estate market, unlocking new opportunities in the digital realm and paving the way for more affordable housing solutions. Real estate entrepreneurs can recapitalize by leveraging bitcoin, thereby tapping into cyberspace. Just as the internet reshaped the retail sector through e-commerce, Bitcoin creates new pathways for growth and innovation in the real estate market.
Ultimately, the shift towards Bitcoin represents not just an upgrade in monetary technology but a profound transformation in the way we build, save, and interact with the world.
This newsletter seeks to highlight these developments and offer valuable insights to homeowners, developers, investors, banks, and entrepreneurs on how to capitalize on new opportunities for sustainable growth in the Bitcoin era, unencumbered by ideological limitations.
WORTH TO KNOW
Podcast and publications
Leon Wankum - Navigating the Shift from Real Estate to Bitcoin
In front of more than 1,000 real estate investors in Toronto, Canada, I delivered my most detailed presentation to date on the convergence of real estate and Bitcoin.
I highlighted how integrating bitcoin onto the balance sheet of development projects is truly a game-changer By capturing bitcoin’s long-term upside, developers can significantly enhance project returns, while its disinflationary nature frees up additional capital for property maintenance and softens the impact of occasional vacancies.
The result is a more resilient financing structure—one that aligns incentives for quality construction, ongoing upkeep, and sustainable cash flow.
My goal was to leave attendees with a clear vision of how Bitcoin can transform traditional real estate financing into a higher-return, lower-risk model for the future. WATCH | FIND THE SLIDES ON X
IDEAS OF INTEREST
Phong Lee – Bitcoin is Freedom for Corporations
Phong Le, CEO of Strategy, presented at the MIT Bitcoin Expo. An interesting presentation on Bitcoin to the early majority through incorporation in corporate practices. WATCH
Jesse Myers – Once-in-a-Species
Jesse delivers an answer to one of humanity’s greatest mysteries: How did Homo sapiens, with a comparatively smaller brain, manage to outlast and outcompete other human species? What role did money play in that survival, and what does this reveal about the nature, and future, of money? READ
Jack Mallers - The Money Matters Podcast
Jack Mallers explains why Bitcoin is the most accessible "smoke alarm" for fiat liquidity, sensing trouble before anyone else. He debunks the myth of Bitcoin being just a tech stock and invites us to watch how a truly free market with a fixed supply starts to lead the way. This perspective on Bitcoin's role in the global economy is definitely worth a listen. WATCH
Michael Saylor – Why the Bitcoin Standard Matters
Michael Saylor and Jeff Park dive into the concept of the Bitcoin Standard, exploring how more companies are adopting bitcoin as a treasury asset. They discuss the growing trend, the benefits of bitcoin's fixed supply, and the strategic advantages for businesses. Moderated by Larry Cermak, this conversation offers a fascinating look at how Bitcoin is shaping the future of corporate finance. WATCH
Jesse Myers – Bitcoin's Value Trajectory vs. Inflation and Depreciating Asset
This chart, created by Jesse Myers, visualizes the value trajectories of different asset classes over time, illustrating how their value changes in relation to inflation and scarcity. The red line represents inflation and the M2 Money Supply, highlighting how fiat currencies lose value over time due to inflation.
In contrast, bitcoin (represented in orange) demonstrates substantial growth, driven by its increasing scarcity and early-stage growth potential. This chart emphasizes how bitcoin stands out for its ability to retain and grow in value, especially when compared to traditional inflationary and depreciating assets. LINK
Ray Dalio Warns of Global Disruptions Worse Than a Recession
Trad-Fi heavyweight Ray Dalio warns that global financial imbalances could lead to disruptions worse than a recession, akin to the 1930s or 2008 crisis.
He stresses the need for a bipartisan approach to reduce the budget deficit and avoid severe consequences. Dalio also expresses concerns over tariffs and their potential to disrupt global production. His upcoming book, How Countries Go Broke, will explore these issues in depth. WATCH | WATCH
If you want to support me. Feel free. You can send me some satoshi/bitcoin.
Lightning: law@getalby.com
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Resources
Carl Menger – Principles of Economics READ
El Ambassador – Hauspreise im Spätmittelalter (House prices in the late Middle Ages) READ
St. Louis FED - Median Household Income in the United States READ
St. Louis FED - Average Sales Price of Houses Sold in the United States READ
Bitcoin Magazine - Gen Z's Bitcoin Bet and the LARGEST Wealth Transfer in History WATCH
Ray Dalio Breaks Down the Long Debt Cycle WATCH
Leon Wankum — Bitcoin and Real Estate (BTC Prague 2024 Keynote) WATCH
Cade Bitcoin – Bitcoin Charts & Data READ
Photo Credit: Imke Wedekind
Disclaimer: the content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Make sure you do your own research before making any investment and be aware of your own risk tolerance. If you like to build on my thoughts, feel free, but please cite me as the source. 2025 - Leon Wankum.
Editing and content creation by Clemens Haidinger.
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Never mind, just finished your article. Nice
Leon - I was at the event.... you did great, really good presentation, thank you for what you are doing!!