RMM is based on the Aave protocol, where you can do two things. First, provide liquidity, similar to LP interest in DeFi, where investors can deposit USDC or XDAI into RMM to receive corresponding ArmmTokens, which accumulate interest in real-time. Second, borrow by collateralizing RealTokens, using held RealTokens or stablecoins as collateral to borrow assets like XDAI. There are two borrowing rate options: a stable rate (similar to a short-term fixed rate, but adjustable when utilization is too high or rates are too low) and a variable rate (fluctuating based on market supply and demand).
Opening this lending path means leveraging, like real estate groups borrowing money to buy houses and then using house loans to buy more houses. By collateralizing RealTokens, borrowing stablecoins, and then repurchasing RealTokens repeatedly to increase overall returns. Note that each leverage layer reduces the health factor and increases risk.
Besides using real estate as "collateral", recent discussions focus more on crypto-native asset mortgage lending. Financial technology company Milo allows borrowers to obtain mortgages up to 100% by collateralizing Bitcoin, completing $65 million in crypto mortgages by early 2025, with cumulative loans exceeding $250 million. Policy-wise, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is requesting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider compliant crypto assets in risk assessments. Although crypto mortgage rates are generally close to or slightly higher than traditional mortgages, the main attraction is financing without selling crypto assets.
Extended reading: 《Bitcoin Mortgages, a New Blue Ocean of $6.6 Trillion》
A Redfin survey shows that about 12% of first-time homebuyers post-pandemic used crypto earnings for down payments. With policy shifts, this will undoubtedly attract "big companies" to enter, and "Crypto Real Estate" is now seeing high-end real estate economic companies join.
In July 2025, Christie's International Real Estate became the first to establish a global luxury real estate department focused on cryptocurrency, marking a symbolic integration of traditional high-end real estate brokers and digital assets. Interestingly, this move wasn't driven top-down but responded to high-net-worth clients' real needs.
Christie's executives stated, "More wealthy buyers want to complete real estate transactions directly with digital assets, prompting the company to build a service architecture supporting full-process crypto payments." In Southern California, Christie's has completed multiple luxury home transactions entirely in cryptocurrency, totaling over $200 million, all for top-tier "eight-figure" residences. Currently, Christie's crypto-friendly property portfolio exceeds $1 billion, covering numerous mansions accepting "pure cryptocurrency offers".
Christie's crypto real estate department not only provides payment channels based on mainstream crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum but also collaborates with custody institutions and legal teams to ensure transactions comply with regulations. Services include crypto payment custody, tax and compliance support, and asset matching (creating exclusive crypto property portfolios meeting high-net-worth clients' specific investment needs).
Christie's Real Estate CEO Aaron Kirman predicts that "in the next five years, over one-third of U.S. residential real estate transactions may involve cryptocurrency". Christie's transformation indirectly confirms crypto assets' penetration among high-net-worth individuals and signals a structural change in traditional real estate transaction models.
Infrastructure is Improving, but "User" Education Seems to Have a Long Way to Go
So far, real estate tokenization projects have taken initial shape but haven't yet met expectations. RealT has tokenized over 970 rental properties, generating nearly $30 million in pure rental income; Lofty has tokenized 148 properties across 11 states, attracting about 7,000 monthly active users who share approximately $2 million in annual rental income. Several projects are hovering around tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, with potential reasons for slow growth.
On one hand, blockchain indeed removes geographical transaction limits, enabling cross-border instant settlement with lower transaction fees compared to traditional property transfers. However, investors must understand this isn't a "zero-cost" ecosystem: token minting fees, asset management fees, transaction commissions, network fees, and potential capital gains taxes constitute a new cost structure. Unlike traditional real estate agents' "one-stop service", crypto real estate requires investors to actively 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 24/7 on secondary markets, allowing investors to collect rent and exit positions anytime. However, when liquidity is insufficient, token prices might significantly deviate from the property's actual valuation, with market fluctuations potentially faster than physical real estate cycles, increasing short-term speculative attributes.
Additionally, many platforms introduce DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) governance, allowing investors to vote on rent, repairs, and other matters. This participatory approach, similar to "playing Monopoly", lowers barriers and enhances interactivity but also demands new user skills: understanding property management, on-chain governance, and compliance awareness. Without sufficient education, investors might misjudge risks, treating digital properties as short-term arbitrage tools rather than long-term asset allocations.
In other words, crypto real estate's true barrier isn't technological but cognitive. Users need to understand collateralization rates, liquidation mechanisms, on-chain governance, and tax reporting—a disruptive transformation for those accustomed to traditional home-buying models.
As regulations gradually clarify, platform experiences optimize, and mainstream financial institutions intervene, crypto real estate may shorten this educational curve. However, in the foreseeable years, the industry must invest more resources in user training, risk control popularization, and compliance guidance to truly transform "crypto real estate" from a niche experiment to mass adoption.
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