Federal crypto legislation could unleash billions in sidelined digital capital for commercial real estate deals.
Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act on Friday, establishing the first federal stablecoin standards after the House passed three crypto bills Thursday, Bisnow reported. Two more pertinent bills passed in the House of Representatives, but are still awaiting Senate approval.
The legislation clears regulatory fog that has kept institutional crypto investors away from real estate.
The impact on the industry could be swift and widespread. Regulated stablecoins and clearer token rules may open doors to fractionalized ownership, blockchain-based escrows and crypto-denominated transactions.
Miami developers already accept bitcoin and stablecoins for deposits and financing, while a $1.6 million Tampa commercial building sold entirely in USDC stablecoin in 2022.
“There’s billions and billions of dollars in crypto waiting on the sidelines, looking for real-world investments,” said Diego Ojeda, president of Miami-based Rilea Group, which sold a condo this year via wallet-to-wallet bitcoin transaction.
“Instead of just buying stocks on the Nasdaq, they’re going to be buying fractions of condos all over the world,” Ojeda added.
Stablecoin transactions settle in minutes rather than days, even on weekends when banks are closed. Cross-border deals eliminate foreign exchange headaches and wire transfer delays. Tokenization allows fractional ownership sales to tap broader capital pools beyond traditional investors.
Bank of America forecasts stablecoin adoption will transform payments infrastructure within five years, while JPMorgan projects stablecoin use will reach $500 billion by 2028.
Savills vice chair Gabe Marans predicts the first wave of CRE players will enter the crypto market within six months; early adopters gain access to new capital sources and can offer faster, cheaper transactions to attract clients.
The challenges remain significant however. Real estate operates on entrenched systems — deed registries, title insurance and conventional banking — that are not integrated with blockchain processes, and many industry professionals lack crypto expertise.
“I don’t think commercial real estate is ready by any means,” Marans said. “There’s going to be a cottage consulting industry that’s going to pop up that will help advise real estate executives on how to embrace this and how to incorporate it into their business models.”
The regulatory framework reduces legal uncertainty, but implementation depends on whether agencies can merge changing rules with established industry practices.
Still, Marans sees the shift as inevitable: “I think we’ll be looking back on this in another 10 years and wondering how we were still settling real estate transactions that were not on the blockchain.”
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