An innovative fund announced in January 2025 combines an interesting mix of investment vehicles that could influence the future of cryptocurrency development. The $88 million fund, announced by well-known real estate investor Grant Cardone, blends real estate (considered by many to be one of the least volatile investment options) with Bitcoin (which is considered by most to be one of the most volatile).
The fund aims to use cash generated from real estate investments to buy more Bitcoin. Cardone, speaking to CoinDesk in late January, admits the mix is novel — at least at the scale he is offering. But he also says the response from investors has been “phenomenal.” Other experts, however, feel it may be too early to determine whether the combination has value.
“It is rather interesting to consider real estate and Bitcoin as two entities that can be integrated,” says Patrick Gruhn, the founder and CEO of Perpetuals. “Real estate is associated with stability and tangible assets, while Bitcoin symbolizes accessibility and new ideas in the financial world. In combination, they connect the conventional with the current economic systems. However, it is essential to be precise. The structure, regulation, and ability to be flexible with market trends will define whether such a combination will provide sustainable value to investors.”
Gruhn has a long history of working with cryptocurrencies, which started while he was serving as a Partner at K&G Lawyers, a Swiss firm specializing in digital assets. He co-founded DigitalAssets, which later became FTX Europe, to make tokenized stocks available with an approved security prospectus. Perpetuals, which Gruhn recently launched, is a MiFID II market infrastructure startup for crypto derivatives trading that empowers perpetual futures trading without boundaries.
Gruhn believes Bitcoin is moving toward more stability, which is making it more attractive to traditional institutions. As a result, institutions are starting to integrate it into more traditional investment vehicles, as shown by the new real estate fund.
But Gruhn still sees volatility as a risk for Bitcoin investors, a belief that was proven true in March 2025. After riding a wave of investor confidence to an all-time high of more than $109,000 on January 19, 2025, Bitcoin recently fell to a four-month low of just below $77,000 on March 10.
Evaluating Emerging Investment Opportunities
Evaluating the potential of the new Cardone fund is challenging. As Cardone told CoinDesk, it’s an entirely new model. Not only is there no past history to assess, but there are no comparables to indicate what the future might hold.
“I conduct my research before making any investment decision,” says Gruhn. “The value proposition has to be well-defined. What need is being met and how is this enterprise unique? For instance, a platform integrating technology with compliance and standards, such as MiFID II, demonstrates professionalism and proactiveness. The return on the new fund combining real estate and Bitcoin is promising, but the risk has to be consistent with the investor’s tolerance and knowledge of the sector.”
As Gruhn points out, risk tolerance is one of the key considerations for investors, especially when crypto is involved. Bitcoin is commonly seen as a risky bet due to its high volatility. However, combining it with real estate — Cardone’s new fund is 85 percent real estate and 15 percent Bitcoin — may decrease the overall riskiness of the asset.
Helping Bitcoin Investing Evolve from Speculation to Long-Term Growth
Aligning an investor’s needs with the goals of the fund is also important. With any opportunity, investors must define what they are trying to achieve, such as wealth accumulation or increased cash flow, and a time horizon before they can conduct a proper evaluation. Cardone’s new fund, for example, has been presented as a long-term project rather than an attempt at rapid earning commonly seen in the world of crypto speculation.
Gruhn does not believe the new fund will be the last of its kind. He sees it as a sign that crypto is entering the realm of real-world applications. While the shift could help to drive mainstream adoption, it won’t necessarily lower the risks inherent to Bitcoin.
“This type of fund, which we should expect to see more of in the foreseeable future, combines crypto with a real-world asset to increase diversification, but results in something that is more risky than a traditional real estate fund,” Gruhn says. “As interest in this type of investment grows, it will help to clear out old-school attitudes toward the assets and usher in appropriate rules for new generations of investors. We should also see interest in hybridizing types of investments to grow as blockchain technology evolves.”
