Real estate mogul Grant Cardone is preparing to tokenize his firm’s $5 billion real estate portfolio, the latest real estate heavyweight to explore blockchain-based ownership.
In a Thursday X filing, the investor said Cardone Capital plans to tokenize its holdings to provide investors with “safety and liquidity in the secondary markets.” He added that the firm aims to become the market leader in large-scale asset tokenization.
Cardone Capital manages multifamily and commercial properties across the U.S. In January, CoinDesk reported that Cardone planned to use cash flow from real estate to buy bitcoin as part of a long-term crypto strategy. The firm bought 1,000 BTC in June and has said it intends to add more to its balance sheet
Tokenization is attracting more and more asset managers to turn traditional assets such as bonds, funds, private credit and real estate into tokens on blockchain rails. In the case of real estate, proponents say tokenization can streamline ownership registration, trading and settlement. However, uneven regulation remains a bottleneck and thin secondary trading can limit liquidity, a report from EY pointed out.
Other real estate agents are exploring similar avenues. The Trump Organization, the real estate conglomerate of Donald Trump and his family, is tokenizing loan proceeds tied to a new resort project in the Maldives. Barry Sternlicht of Starwood Capital, which manages over $125 billion, recently said his firm is ready to tokenize assets but faces US regulatory barriers.
The tokenized real estate market is still small, but is expected to grow rapidly over the next decade. Deloitte predicted that $4 trillion in real estate could be tokenized by 2035, growing by 27% annually.
Read more: Real estate billionaire Barry Sternlicht ready to tokenize assets, but says US regulation blocks it
