Aave founder spends millions to "buy up" a luxury mansion; a glimpse into the "shopping spree" list of crypto billionaires.

Author: Zhou, ChainCatcher

As Bitcoin surges past $120,000 to a record high in the fourth quarter of 2025, crypto billionaires have quietly turned to traditional real estate as a safe haven.

According to Bloomberg, Stani Kulechov, founder of the DeFi platform Aave, has purchased a five-story Victorian-style mansion in Notting Hill, London, for £22 million (approximately $30 million). The transaction is scheduled to close in November 2025, when Bitcoin prices will be in a high-volume trading range.

Amid the UK Labour government's increase in stamp duty and the abolition of tax breaks for ultra-high-net-worth foreign residents, London's luxury home market continues to face pressure. In December 2025, the number of transactions for homes priced over £5 million fell by approximately 40% year-on-year, making this particular transaction one of the most expensive in London's high-end residential market in the past year.

The report states that Kulechov's transaction occurred a week before the UK budget announcement, amidst a period of market weakness exacerbated by policy adjustments, and the final price was approximately £2 million lower than the broker's previous guidance. Kulechov, the pioneer of the DeFi lending platform, reportedly manages over $50 billion in locked assets on Aave.

Previously, several crypto executives and founders had also been reported to have purchased luxury homes. 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. This mansion is one of the most luxurious properties on the Emerald Coast and was formerly owned by former Saudi oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani.

Earlier in 2022, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong purchased a top-tier mansion in Bel Air, Los Angeles, for $133 million. The property, which had been sold to a Japanese businessman, was considered one of the most expensive real estate deals ever made by a crypto executive.

Before FTX collapsed, Sam Bankman-Fried used platform funds to purchase more than 30 luxury homes in the Bahamas, with a total value exceeding $240 million. These included a penthouse in Albany Orchid and a plot in Old Fort Bay, properties that were revealed in debt reports during the 2023 bankruptcy liquidation process.

In 2023, Bijan Tehrani, co-founder of Stake.com, purchased a historic Manhattan mansion, formerly owned by Chase Bank legend David Rockefeller, for approximately $47 million.

Ed Craven, another co-founder of Stake.com, owns several high-end properties in Melbourne, Australia, including a mansion on St George's Road in Toorak worth over $80 million and a property on Orrong Road worth $38.5 million.

In 2023, NFT collector and crypto tycoon Huang Licheng purchased a mansion in the Bird Streets neighborhood of Los Angeles for $25 million.

In addition, there are cases of crypto-related individuals selling luxury homes. In September 2025, American entrepreneur Grant Cardone listed his beachfront mansion in Miami's Golden Beach for sale for 400 bitcoins (approximately $43 million). The property, originally purchased from Tommy Hilfiger, was sold within 72 hours of being listed.

It's not hard to see that these transactions are mostly concentrated in high-end areas around the world, such as London, Los Angeles, New York, the Italian coast, and Miami. Furthermore, the timing of these exposed luxury home acquisitions often occurred at the peak or end of bull markets, as wealthy individuals tend to lock in some profits at the height of their wealth and shift towards tangible assets as a safe haven.

A recent 2026 Luxury Outlook Report by Sotheby's International Realty indicates that cryptocurrencies are increasingly influencing luxury goods purchases, particularly in markets such as Dubai, New York, and California. Sellers in these regions are already accepting direct crypto payments, and the proportion of high-net-worth individuals holding crypto assets has risen significantly.

The report also mentions that regulatory changes may allow crypto assets to qualify for mortgage loans, further facilitating home purchase financing for holders. The report projects that the volume of loans secured by Bitcoin will grow significantly by 2030.

The acquisition of luxury homes by crypto entrepreneurs is not only a matter of personal wealth, but also reflects the continued penetration of digital assets into traditional sectors.

This trend is also evident outside of real estate.

In late January, spot gold prices continued to hit multi-decade highs, breaking through the $5,600 per ounce mark. The massive gold purchases by crypto giant Tether, the issuer of USDT, the world's largest stablecoin, have also attracted significant attention. Tether has accumulated approximately 140 tons of physical gold, worth about $24 billion, making it one of the largest gold holders among non-governmental organizations.

The company has purchased over 70 tons of gold in the past year, with an additional 27 tons expected in the fourth quarter of 2025. It continues to purchase at a rate of 1 to 2 tons per week, equivalent to approximately $1 billion per month. This gold is primarily stored in high-security vaults in Switzerland to support its reserves and back its gold-pegged 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 purchasing pace in the coming months.

Essentially, Tether's gold strategy and the move of crypto entrepreneurs to luxury homes both reflect the logic of digital wealth holders seeking more stable, tangible assets, and the penetration of digital assets into traditional fields may have become an irreversible trend.