Trump Signs First Federal Crypto Framework, Unlocking New Rails For CRE Finance

For years, commercial real estate has flirted with blockchain, crypto and tokenization — dabbling in bitcoin-backed deals and nonfungible token office listings, but never fully committing. 

That may be about to change.

The House of Representatives passed a trio of cryptocurrency bills Thursday, offering a clear federal framework for digital assets for the first time.

“Crypto Week,” as GOP leadership dubbed it, culminated in a bipartisan 308-122 House vote approving the GENIUS Act, a bill setting standards for stablecoins. The bill passed the Senate in June and was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Friday.

Two more bills passed the House but await Senate approval. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act delineates oversight powers between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for crypto exchanges, brokers and token issuers. And the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act bans the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank digital currency — a demand from House conservatives who feared state-backed surveillance.

The bills, long lobbied for by crypto giants like Coinbase and Circle Internet Group, mark a dramatic shift in Washington’s stance on digital currency and are already being hailed on Wall Street as a turning point. Bitcoin surged to a historic high of $123K on Monday and remains up more than 90% year-over-year, trading at more than $120K at Thursday’s market close.

The implications for CRE are immediate: Regulated stablecoins and clarified tokens could open the door to more fractionalized equity stakes, blockchain-backed escrows and crypto-denominated leases. Industry insiders have told Bisnow in recent months that the U.S. is positioned to lead on crypto-based financial innovation, and CRE may finally be ready to dive in.

“This is a win for innovation, because founders, developers and investors finally get clear rules instead of enforcement by surprise, which has kind of always been the worry,” Miami-based Rilea Group President Diego Ojeda told Bisnow. 

Stablecoins: CRE's Crypto Comfort Zone?

Most important to traditional investors is the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS Act.

Bank of America forecasts that stablecoin adoption will overhaul payments infrastructure in three to five years as banks, fintechs and retailers — including JPMorgan Chase, BNY Mellon, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal — prepare their own digital coin strategies. 

Some in real estate see stablecoin as the safest way to tiptoe into crypto because it is pegged to something concrete, usually the U.S. dollar. 

Pilot programs have already begun. As Bisnow reported in April, Miami developers and brokers are accepting bitcoin and stablecoins for deposits and financing. 

In 2022, fintech firm Propy facilitated the $1.6M sale of a commercial building in Tampa entirely in USDC stablecoin, with settlement and title transfer handled via smart contract, bypassing banks and title companies. 

Still, many major lenders, title insurers and escrow agents have remained cautious without federal oversight.

With new guardrails in place, stablecoins could soon enable faster, cheaper cross-border escrow, rent and deposit payments. And legal recognition and transparency standards could unlock a wave of institutional uptake, which has the potential to usher in a digital payment infrastructure rarely seen in property transactions.

Ojeda said he feels more secure and relieved following the signing of the GENIUS Act.

“With legislation like the GENIUS Act, Clarity Act, we're definitely seeing Washington move from confusion to constructive frameworks, and it clears the fog,” Ojeda said. “And once the rules are clear, capital follows. People want to remove uncertainty.”

Decoding Digital Tokens

The Clarity Act proposes definitive rulemaking authority between the SEC and CFTC. 

That would establish provisional registration pathways and a 360‑day timeline for both agencies to issue comprehensive regulations. It intends to simplify which tokens count as securities, which are commodities and how decentralized finance and stablecoins fit into that landscape.

This filtered view is critical for tokenized real estate — the process of converting ownership interests, such as limited partner shares, revenue streams or debt obligations, into digital shares on a blockchain, a supposedly ultrasecure networked record of transactions. 

For example, a condo at the Rider Residences in Miami, developed by Rilea Group, was sold this year via a wallet-to-wallet bitcoin transaction, demonstrating how property can be transferred seamlessly online.

The Clarity Act could enable these property tokens and smart contracts to operate under recognized legal and regulatory structures, clearing a major hurdle that has kept real estate players away.

"[The Clarity Act] is incredibly important to help further institutionalize and onshore secondary market activity in the U.S.,” Tony Fenner-Leitão, president at Cambrian Asset Management, told Business Insider. 

“This should help improve counterparty risk, improve liquidity and improve the ability for investors seeking risk-managed solutions to get them in well-regulated vehicles.” 

Privacy Assurance Via Anti‑CBDC Legislation

The third bill, the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, would bar the Fed from issuing a central bank digital currency — a move championed by House conservatives who view a digital dollar as a potential tool for government surveillance.

Industry advocates see it as a defensive firewall to preserve private digital currencies like stablecoins.

That distinction could prove critical for commercial real estate.

If stablecoins are to function as dependable rails for blockchain-based escrows, cross-border payments or tokenized fundraising, market participants will seek legal clarity — and assurance that those tools won’t be sidelined by a government-backed alternative.

Traders Buy In. Others, Not So Much

Beyond bitcoin’s surge this week, ethereum, Circle, Coinbase and solana shares followed, benefiting from expectations of clearer regulation and new integration opportunities. 

Following the Senate’s approval of the GENIUS Act on June 17, Coinbase stock jumped 16%, and shares for Circle, a stablecoin company that debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on June 5, have risen 658% since its initial public offering.

Stablecoins themselves had dipped in market share earlier this week as investors rotated capital into higher-growth assets like bitcoin and ethereum, but they have improved again and are up 20% in the last month.

Still, some expressed caution. 

JPMorgan projects stablecoin use will reach roughly $500B by 2028 — well below earlier trillion-dollar forecasts — but notes the market is fragmented and nontrading use already exists in retail and business-to-business payments. 

Democrats, meanwhile, have labeled the week’s votes “Anti‑Crypto Corruption Week,” warning of weak oversight and potential loopholes for political insiders, particularly Trump, whose family has many crypto investments.

CRE Eyes Digital Shift

For an industry long tethered to paper-heavy systems, passage of the crypto bills could mark the moment digital capital markets began to take root.

The upside for real estate could be considerable: faster and cheaper closings and improved liquidity, Savills Vice Chairman Gabe Marans said on Bisnow’s First Draft Live on Friday.

The regulation-backed stablecoin also takes away foreign exchange headaches, allowing international transactions to happen quickly and easily, Ojeda said.

On The Rider Residences’ first bitcoin sale, Rilea received the funds within minutes right before midnight on a weekend, unheard of in an age of strict bank hours.

“I think that's huge,” Ojeda said. “There's billions and billions of dollars in crypto waiting on the sidelines, looking for real-world investments.”

Tokenization will open the market to those looking to get in on buying fractions of condos, exposing sellers to a broader pool of capital. Ojeda said he believes this is where investments are headed next.

“Instead of just buying stocks on the Nasdaq, they're going to be buying fractions of condos all over the world,” he said. “It's exciting times. I'm pumped.”

Still, adoption is unlikely to be swift. Real estate remains bound to a patchwork of legacy systems — deed registries, title insurance, appraisals and conventional banks — that are not yet integrated with blockchain-based processes. 

Marans said the proliferation of crypto through CRE is inevitable, but the learning curve will be steep.

“I don't think commercial real estate is ready by any means,” Marans said. “I think that 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.”

He predicts the impact will begin over the next six months as a first wave of commercial real estate players enter the market, and crypto will have a major emergence within a year.

Federal rules may clarify the legal status of digital assets, but actual implementation depends on whether regulators can convert legislation into enforceable protocols that mesh with longstanding industry norms.

Lack of infrastructure, or a misstep, could expose CRE players to legal uncertainty and operational headaches or undermine the movement altogether.

“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, that were not pegged to stablecoin,” Marans said.

“All of this, of course, assuming that there's not a big scandal that poisons everybody's sense that this is a safe and secure way of doing business.”

Chloe Gallivan contributed reporting. 

UPDATE, JULY 18, 5:50 P.M. ET: Comments from commercial real estate players have been added.