The Shift from Real Estate to Bitcoin
At Bitcoin on Balance, we help investors, executives, and businesses understand how Bitcoin can strengthen their financial strategies.
In this article, we summarise and adapt the insights shared by Leon Wankum, a leading voice at the intersection of Bitcoin and real estate, for the Australian context.
Leon recently presented on how Bitcoin is beginning to replace real estate’s historic role as the primary store of value. The ideas he shares are crucial for Australian real estate investors navigating a world of rising inflation, declining fiat purchasing power, and emerging Bitcoin adoption.
Real Estate Isn't Going Away - But Its Role Is Changing
Real estate has been a pillar of wealth preservation for decades, especially in cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. However, Bitcoin is now offering an alternative store of value that is scarce, global, and borderless.
Before Bitcoin, investors turned to property to preserve capital across generations. Now, Bitcoin offers a harder, faster form of capital preservation.
How Capital Seeks the Strongest Ground
Traditionally, capital has flowed into:
Prime suburbs like Point Piper (Sydney) or Toorak (Melbourne),
Prime CBD assets,
Trophy properties attractive to domestic and international buyers.
Leon points out that Bitcoin follows similar capital flow logic — but without borders or geographical limits:
Only 21 million Bitcoin will ever exist.
Anyone with an internet connection can acquire it.
Bitcoin markets operate 24/7/365 — no banking hours, no national restrictions.
Illustrative comparison for Australia:
A Bondi Beach property purchased for £5,000 (≈A$10,000) in the 1960s is now worth over A$10 million. Bitcoin offers similar upside potential, but on a global, non-physical rail, compressing decades of value appreciation into a much shorter timeframe.
Why Bitcoin Threatens Real Estate’s Monetary Role
Leon Wankum argues that real estate in recent decades has been used not just for shelter or business, but as a monetary substitute - a store of value — because fiat currencies have performed poorly.
In Australia:
1970: Sydney’s median house price ≈ A$18,000
2024: Sydney’s median house price ≈ A$1.1 million
These gains track closely with the growth of Australia’s M3 money supply, demonstrating that inflation - not just natural scarcity - has driven property values.
Bitcoin’s value, by contrast, derives from absolute scarcity and global liquidity, not from central bank printing.
Bitcoin’s CAGR (compound annual growth rate) over the past decade is approximately +50%, while Australian real estate, even in strong markets, averages 6–7%.
Younger Generations Are Leading the Shift
An important trend accelerating this transition: younger generations are bypassing traditional financial advice altogether.
Studies consistently show that Millennials and Gen Z investors:
Prefer Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies over real estate or traditional stocks,
Trust decentralised finance and self-custody more than banks,
Are less likely to consult financial advisors, relying instead on peer networks, podcasts, and online research.
For these generations, Bitcoin isn’t a speculative asset — it’s the default savings technology for the 21st century.
This behavioural shift will profoundly reshape asset markets, lending further momentum to Bitcoin adoption while gradually eroding the traditional dominance of property investment.
Bitcoin Maintenance Reserves for Property Investors
A key strategy Leon proposes is establishing Bitcoin maintenance reserves.
For Australian real estate investors, this means:
Allocating 5–20% of rental income into Bitcoin.
Maintaining cash reserves for property maintenance, debt servicing, and operating costs.
Holding Bitcoin in cold storage wallets to eliminate counterparty risks from banks, exchanges, and monetary authorities.
Bitcoin offers real estate investors:
A hedge against fiat debasement,
Greater financial independence from banks and Reserve Bank policies,
A long-term savings strategy with global portability.
⚠️ Bitcoin is volatile. A long-term horizon (5–10 years) is essential.
⚠️ Investors should consult a Bitcoin-knowledgeable tax advisor to understand Australian tax implications around buying, holding, and selling Bitcoin through personal or corporate entities.
Refinancing and Bitcoin Allocation: A Smarter Play
Real estate developers in Australia commonly refinance appreciated properties to fund new developments.
Leon proposes an alternative: after refinancing, allocate a portion of proceeds to Bitcoin instead of committing entirely back into more leveraged real estate.
Example for Australia:
Rather than rolling all proceeds from a $2 million refinance into more property, an investor could allocate $400,000 to Bitcoin.
Historically, even a modest Bitcoin position has the potential to outperform larger leveraged property portfolios over time.
Bitcoin as Collateral
Leon also highlights Bitcoin’s growing potential as superior collateral.
Banks traditionally accept real estate as collateral because it (mostly) holds its value.
However, Bitcoin — due to its hard cap and resistance to monetary inflation — is emerging as a better long-term collateral option:
Global,
Liquid,
Scarce.
Bitcoin collateral could eventually open new credit lines for developers and businesses, offering financing models untethered from traditional banking cycles.
Conclusion: Building Bitcoin into Your Balance Sheet
As Leon Wankum's work shows, real estate’s dominance as a store of value was largely a fiat-era anomaly.
Bitcoin restores the true function of money — to store value reliably, free from government mismanagement and inflation.
At Bitcoin on Balance, we believe Australian investors should take note:
Real estate still matters for shelter, business, and community
But Bitcoin is the superior vehicle for saving, preserving, and compounding wealth
Building Bitcoin maintenance reserves is a practical, scalable way to future-proof portfolios
The future of wealth is decentralised, borderless, and mathematically enforced.
Are you ready to add Bitcoin to your balance sheet?