Author: Zhou, ChainCatcher
In Q4 2025, as Bitcoin surged past $120,000 to set a new record high, crypto billionaires have quietly shifted to traditional real estate as a safe haven.
According to Bloomberg, Stani Kulechov, founder of DeFi platform Aave, purchased a five-story Victorian-style mansion in London's Notting Hill for 22 million pounds (approximately 30 million U.S. dollars). The transaction was completed in November 2025, when the price of Bitcoin was fluctuating at a high level.
Against the backdrop of the UK Labour government's increase in stamp duty and the removal of tax incentives for ultra-high-net-worth foreign residents, London's luxury property market continues to face pressure. In December 2025, the transaction volume of residential properties priced above 5 million pounds fell by about 40% year-on-year, making this deal one of the highest-priced cases in London's high-end residential market in the past year.
The deal by Kulechov took place a week before the UK budget announcement, amid heightened market weakness due to policy adjustments, and the transaction price was about £2 million lower than the previous guidance provided by the agent. It is reported that as a pioneer of the DeFi lending platform, the assets locked in the Aave he manages exceed $50 billion.
Previously, multiple crypto executives or founders have been reported to have purchased luxury mansions. In March 2025, Brendan Blumer, CEO of Block.one (formerly EOS Network) and chairman of Bullish, bought Villa Romazzino in Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, Italy, for nearly 170 million euros. The mansion is one of the most luxurious properties on the Emerald Coast and was previously owned by Saudi Arabia's former oil minister, Ahmed Zaki Yamani.
In early 2022, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong purchased a top-tier mansion in Los Angeles' Bel Air for $133 million. The property was transferred from a Japanese entrepreneur and was considered one of the most expensive real estate cases among crypto executives at the time.
Before the FTX collapse, Sam Bankman-Fried used platform funds to purchase over 30 luxury homes in the Bahamas, with a total value exceeding $240 million. These include the top-floor apartment at Albany Orchid and the Old Fort Bay property, which were exposed through creditor reports during the bankruptcy liquidation process in 2023.
Co-founder of Stake.com, Bijan Tehrani, bought a historic mansion in Manhattan, New York in 2023 for about $47 million, originally belonging to David Rockefeller, a legendary figure from Chase Bank.
Ed Craven, another co-founder of Stake.com, has purchased multiple luxury properties in Melbourne, Australia, including a mansion on St George's Road in Toorak valued at over 80 million US dollars, as well as a property on Orrong Road valued at 38.5 million US dollars.
NFT collector and crypto whale Huang Licheng purchased a mansion in Los Angeles's Bird Streets community for $25 million in 2023.
In addition, there are also cases of people in the cryptocurrency industry selling luxury homes. In September 2025, American entrepreneur Grant Cardone listed his waterfront mansion in Miami's Golden Beach for sale for 400 bitcoins (approximately 43 million U.S. dollars). The property was originally purchased from Tommy Hilfiger and the transaction was completed within 72 hours after listing.
It is not difficult to find that these transactions are mostly concentrated in global high-end areas, such as London, Los Angeles, New York, the Italian coast, and Miami. Moreover, the timing of these disclosed luxury property acquisitions often occurs at the peak or the end of a bull market, when the wealthy often lock in part of their gains at the peak of their wealth and shift to physical assets for risk hedging.
Recently, the 2026 Luxury Outlook Report released by Sotheby's International Realty pointed out that cryptocurrencies are increasingly influencing luxury purchases, particularly in markets such as Dubai, New York, and California. In these regions, some sellers have already started accepting direct payments in cryptocurrency, and the proportion of high-net-worth individuals holding crypto assets has significantly increased.
The report also mentioned that regulatory changes may allow crypto assets to be counted toward mortgage eligibility, further facilitating financing for holders to purchase homes. It is expected that the scale of loans secured by Bitcoin will increase significantly by 2030.
The acquisition of a luxury mansion by a crypto entrepreneur is not only a personal wealth choice, but also reflects the continued penetration of digital assets into traditional fields.
This trend is also evident outside of real estate.
At the end of January, the spot price of gold continued to hit a multi-decade high, breaking through the 5,600-yuan-per-ounce threshold. The massive gold-buying activities of the leading cryptocurrency company Tether have also drawn significant attention. As the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin USDT, Tether has accumulated approximately 140 tons of physical gold, valued at about 24 billion U.S. dollars, making it one of the largest holders of gold among non-governmental entities.
The company purchased over 70 tons of gold in the past year, added 27 tons in the fourth quarter of 2025, and continues to buy at a rate of 1 to 2 tons per week, equivalent to about $1 billion per month. The gold is mainly stored in high-security vaults in Switzerland to support its reserves and back the gold-backed token XAUT.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the company plans to allocate 10% to 15% of its portfolio to physical gold and will maintain this procurement pace over the coming months.
Fundamentally, Tether's gold strategy and the move of crypto entrepreneurs toward luxury mansions both reflect the logic of digital wealth holders seeking more stable, tangible assets. The penetration of digital assets into traditional fields may have already become an irreversible trend.