Real estate investment firm Cardone Capital is moving to target the U.S. real estate investment trust (REIT) market with a hybrid investment structure that combines bitcoin with large multifamily properties.

Bitcoin Magazine reported on June 16 that Cardone Capital CEO Grant Cardone (그랜트 카톤) said the structure could aim for higher returns than existing REITs and draw in investors with no experience investing in bitcoin.

In a Consensus 2026 interview, Cardone Capital directly targeted what it called institutional limits of traditional REITs. U.S. REITs have grown since being institutionalised in 1960 through a structure of owning, operating and financing income-producing real estate, but listed REITs are seen as making it difficult to hold bitcoin on their balance sheets. The company cited traditional REITs such as Camden and AvalonBay, saying it viewed them as having difficulty holding bitcoin, and argued such institutional constraints are both a market flaw and a competitive opportunity.

Cardone Capital's approach differs from models that tokenise real estate on blockchain. The company chose a structure in which it buys institutional-grade multifamily properties at discounted prices, then places cash-flowing real estate assets and bitcoin together into a separate limited liability company (LLC). It aims to capture both the stability of real estate and bitcoin's upside potential.

It cited Boca Raton as a representative case. Cardone Capital said it bought a 366-unit apartment complex for $235 million in cash from a Blackstone-related lending institution, then added about $100 million in bitcoin to create an investment structure totaling about $335 million. The company said the asset's replacement cost is about $400 million, and that it used bitcoin as a way to raise the overall acquisition cost.

The return structure uses both property cash flow and bitcoin holdings. Cardone Capital said it expects the Boca asset to generate about 4 percent annual returns and said it also expects depreciation benefits and refinancing opportunities on a 7 to 10-year cycle. It also sees bitcoin as adding liquidity and additional upside potential. The company said it viewed that combining real estate and bitcoin for long-term holding could deliver returns of about 22 to 32 percent even in older asset classes.

The structure is also being used as a channel to bring in new bitcoin investors. Cardone Capital said about 80 percent of investors in the Boca fund previously had no experience investing in bitcoin. It said the goal is to bring investors who have never been exposed to bitcoin into the market.

Cardone Capital also laid out expansion plans. It said it has accumulated about $1 billion in real estate and about 2,000 BTC over the past 17 months, and that six deals are currently at the contract stage. The company argued it could create significant value even by securing 5 to 10 percent of the REIT market. It also stressed an approach of holding physical and digital assets together, saying people have to live somewhere and cannot live inside a bitcoin account.

Still, whether the structure will establish itself as an alternative in the REIT market is a separate question. Commercial real estate is typically held long term, and execution risks may follow in the process of expanding personal fundraising. Future results are expected to hinge on deal execution capability, market cycles, bitcoin price trends and the related regulatory environment.