Size of the Opportunity
The untapped potential of tokenizing American real estate
The Asset
U.S. home equity totals $35 trillion — one of the world's largest asset classes that remains notoriously difficult to access, particularly for global investors. This wealth sits idle in homes, inaccessible without selling or taking on debt.
The scale is staggering:
86 million owner-occupied homes in the U.S.
32 million homes with over $100,000 in tappable equity
4.6 million homes with over $500,000 in tappable equity
The Demand
International investors deploy over $70 billion annually into American property despite 6%+ transaction costs, complex regulations, and management burdens. Their persistence, especially from regions with currency devaluation, demonstrates the depth of unmet demand.
The crypto ecosystem adds further demand. $250 billion in stablecoins earn minimal yield while holders seek productive opportunities. DeFi protocols need new collateral types. Institutions want real estate exposure without operational complexity. Each represents capital that understands real estate's value but lacks efficient access.
Crypto-native distribution solves these problems: 24/7 liquidity instead of months-long closings, dollar minimums instead of hundreds of thousands, global access without geographic barriers, and full DeFi composability.
The Timing
Three factors converge to create ideal conditions:
Infrastructure Maturity
DeFi protocols handle billions in value. Uniswap v4 enables sophisticated liquidity management. Lending protocols actively seek new collateral. The experimental phase has passed.
Market Conditions
Home equity at all-time highs meets compressed global yields. Inflation drives demand for real assets. Crypto seeks uncorrelated returns. Institutional capital flows into tokenized assets.
Regulatory Clarity
The HEI market has rating agency coverage and standardized securitizations. Countries have developed tokenization frameworks. Stablecoins have established the compliance precedents.
The Potential
Stablecoins provide the adoption template: from crypto traders to emerging market users to $8 trillion in annual volume. Real estate can follow this path, starting with DeFi yield seekers and expanding to anyone seeking to grow their wealth long-term.
With massive trapped equity, proven demand, mature infrastructure, favorable conditions, and regulatory clarity, the opportunity exists to unlock trillions in value while solving real problems for homeowners and investors globally.
Market Penetration
Current HEI originations of $5 billion annually represent just 0.014% of total home equity. This microscopic penetration rate reveals the massive growth potential:
1% penetration: $350 billion market
5% penetration: $1.75 trillion market
10% penetration: $3.5 trillion market
Competitive Landscape
Traditional alternatives fail to capture this opportunity:
Direct Ownership: Requires large capital, active management, and accepts illiquidity
REITs: Trade like stocks, not real estate, with tax inefficiency
Private Funds: High minimums, long lockups, limited access
Previous Tokens: Failed attempts at real estate fractionalization created more problems than solutions
$USH uniquely combines institutional-quality returns with retail accessibility, creating a new category of real estate investment.
Network Effects
As Manifest grows, powerful network effects emerge:
Liquidity Begets Liquidity: Deeper markets attract more users, creating virtuous cycles
DeFi Integration: Each new protocol integration expands use cases
Geographic Expansion: More states and origination partners increase portfolio quality
Institutional Validation: Large investors legitimize the model for others
Global Context
U.S. real estate uniquely combines:
Rule of Law: Strong property rights and enforcement protecting investments
Market Depth: $47 trillion total value and enormous annual transaction volume validating prices
Currency Strength: USD denomination protects investors from emerging market currency risks and real estate delivers inflation protection
Data Availability: Transparent pricing and records
No other real estate market offers this combination at scale, positioning U.S. residential property as the ideal asset for tokenization.
The Vision
Manifest aims to become the default way global investors access U.S. real estate, just as $USDC & $USDT became the standards for dollar exposure in crypto.
The path:
Phase 1: DeFi natives seeking yield ($100M-$1B TVL)
Phase 2: Crypto funds adding real estate allocation ($1B-$10B)
Phase 3: Traditional investors using crypto rails ($10B-$100B)
Phase 4: Mainstream adoption globally ($100B+)
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