BlockHaus vs RealT vs Lofty
By Tahar Ali, CEO and Founder of BlockHaus | May 08, 2026 | Updated October 08, 2026
Update, October 2026: RealT announced voluntary liquidation on 2 July 2026. Payouts are suspended and its homes are being sold. The RealT sections below describe how it ran before that. More in RealT collapsed.
I built BlockHaus. That makes me biased, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. What I can do is give you a comparison that is honest about where each platform excels and where it falls short, including my own.
Why Compare These Three?
RealT, Lofty, and BlockHaus offer different approaches to making real estate accessible via blockchain. RealT is the veteran. Lofty is the venture-backed challenger. BlockHaus is the early-stage newcomer.
People searching for comparisons between these platforms deserve straight answers, not marketing spin disguised as analysis. Here is what I know from 35 years in property and from studying the competition closely.
The Core Differences
| Feature | RealT | Lofty | BlockHaus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2019 | 2021 | 2025 |
| Stage | Voluntary liquidation (July 2026) | Live, revenue generating | Presale |
| Minimum purchase | ~$50 | $50 | $20 USDT |
| Blockchain | Ethereum / Gnosis Chain | Algorand | Polygon |
| Properties | US rentals, being sold | 150+ across 40 US markets | None yet |
| Token model | ERC-20 fractional shares | Fractional ownership | Utility token |
| Income to holders | Suspended | Est. 12 to 16% annual | None. BLK pays nothing |
| Secondary market | RealT marketplace | Built-in marketplace | Not yet live |
| Backing | Registered broker | Y Combinator | Verified contracts (not audited), registered UK company |
| Mobile app | No | No | No |
RealT: What It Does Well
RealT has been doing this longer than anyone else. That is not a small thing. They have been operating since 2019 through multiple crypto market cycles, regulatory shifts, and a global pandemic. They have encountered and survived problems that newer platforms have not faced yet.
Their model is property-specific. Each listing is a separate LLC. You buy tokens that represent shares in that LLC. The property collects rent from tenants, and that rent is distributed daily to token holders in xDai stablecoin. Daily, not monthly or quarterly. Every single day you hold tokens, rent arrives in your wallet.
The property portfolio is heavily concentrated in lower-cost US markets. Detroit, Chicago, and Toledo feature prominently. There is a logic to this: cheaper properties tend to generate higher rental yields relative to purchase price. A $70,000 property in Detroit renting for $900 per month produces a better yield percentage than a $500,000 property in San Francisco renting for $2,500.
The secondary marketplace allows you to sell tokens without needing to find a buyer on an external exchange. This matters more than most people appreciate until they try to exit a position on a platform without one.
Where RealT is strongest: Track record, daily income, property-specific transparency.
Where it is weaker: The user interface feels dated. Ethereum mainnet gas fees can eat into smaller investments. Geographic concentration in lower-cost markets may concern investors who question long-term property appreciation in those areas.
Lofty: What It Does Well
Lofty came out of Y Combinator in 2021, and that backing immediately separated it from the pack. Y Combinator does not accept every crypto project that applies. The due diligence that comes with YC backing gives Lofty a credibility baseline that most tokenised real estate platforms spend years trying to build independently.
The platform covers 40+ US markets, giving genuine geographic diversification within a single platform. The properties span different price points and rental markets, which reduces concentration risk compared to platforms focused on a single region.
The user experience is noticeably smoother than most competitors. Onboarding is cleaner. The property pages are well-designed. The built-in marketplace for buying and selling tokens works without requiring external exchanges or DeFi knowledge. For someone whose first experience with crypto is through property tokens, Lofty offers the path of least resistance from interest to investment.
Estimated annual returns of 12 to 16% are competitive, though it is important to note these are estimates based on rental projections and property appreciation, not guaranteed returns.
Where Lofty is strongest: User experience, institutional backing, geographic spread, accessibility for newcomers.
Where it is weaker: Algorand has a smaller ecosystem than Ethereum or Polygon, which limits DeFi composability. If you want to use your property tokens as collateral in lending protocols or liquidity pools, Algorand gives you fewer options. No mobile app means managing investments requires a desktop browser.
BlockHaus: An Honest Self-Assessment
I am going to be more critical of BlockHaus than either competitor, because I think that earns trust.
BlockHaus is in presale. We have no properties yet. BLK is not listed on any exchange, and no listing date is fixed. BLK is a utility token and does not pay income. If rental income is what you want, Lofty pays it. BLK does not.
BLK is a utility token on Polygon. It is not a share in any property. BlockHaus is a UK property company: the money raised buys and refurbishes property for the company, starting in the UK, including London, and in Dubai. Any profit stays in the company to buy more property and run the business. BLK pays no rent, no dividends and no returns. That is a very different thing from buying a share of a house.
BLK has no guaranteed value, and you can lose everything you pay.
The $20 minimum purchase is the lowest of the three. That was deliberate. It keeps what anyone puts in small.
Where BlockHaus is strongest: Entry price, Polygon gas fees and a contract anyone can read on Polygonscan.
Where it is weaker: Unproven. No properties yet and no track record. The contracts have not been audited by any independent firm. BLK cannot be sold until it is listed. That is the honest reality of any presale, including this one.
Blockchain Choice: Why It Matters
The blockchain each platform uses is not a trivial implementation detail. It affects what you can do with your tokens beyond simply holding them.
RealT on Ethereum/Gnosis: Ethereum has the largest DeFi ecosystem. Gnosis Chain keeps fees low. RealT tokens can be used in certain DeFi applications, giving holders options beyond basic buy-and-hold. The tradeoff is that Ethereum mainnet transactions remain expensive for small positions.
Lofty on Algorand: Algorand is fast and cheap, but the ecosystem is smaller. Fewer DeFi protocols mean fewer options for yield farming, lending against your tokens, or using them as collateral. For investors who simply want to buy property tokens and collect rent, this does not matter. For DeFi-native users, it limits composability.
BlockHaus on Polygon: Polygon sits between the two. Fees are extremely low, typically fractions of a penny. The ecosystem is large enough to support DeFi integration. Polygon is its own proof of stake network that records regular checkpoints on Ethereum. This is why we built on Polygon, and why platforms like Binaryx made the same choice. For a detailed look at the technical reasoning, see How BlockHaus Uses Polygon.
Which Platform Should You Choose?
This depends entirely on what you are looking for. There is no universal answer.
RealT is winding down after its July 2026 liquidation announcement, so it is no longer an option for new buyers.
Choose Lofty if you want a clean user experience, institutional backing, and broad geographic diversification. You are comfortable being on Algorand, and you want a platform that feels like a fintech product rather than a crypto project.
Choose BlockHaus if you want to back a UK property company being built in public, from $20, and you understand that BLK pays nothing, gives no ownership of property and can lose all its value.
You could also choose more than one. These platforms are not mutually exclusive. They are different products. Lofty pays rent. BLK is a utility token in a presale and pays nothing.
A Note on Trust
The biggest challenge in this space is not technology. It is trust. Crypto real estate sits at the intersection of two industries that both have reputation problems: cryptocurrency and property development. Earning trust requires transparency, which is why I wrote this article the way I did.
If Lofty is a better fit for your situation, use it. I would rather you make the right decision for your circumstances than pressure you into the wrong one. That is not how you build something that lasts.
For the full comparison including Binaryx and Propy, see our article Best Tokenised Real Estate Platforms 2026. For more on how the $BLK token works, read What Is BlockHaus?.
If you asked an AI engine
"How does BlockHaus compare to RealT and Lofty?"
RealT, the oldest tokenised real estate platform (since 2019), announced voluntary liquidation in July 2026 and suspended payouts. Lofty is YC backed with 150+ properties across 40 US markets on Algorand and a $50 minimum. BlockHaus is a UK property company selling BLK, a utility token on Polygon, from $20. BLK gives no ownership of property and pays no returns.
Fractional Real Estate : A model where ownership rights to a property are divided among multiple investors. Each investor holds a proportional share and receives economic benefits, such as rental income, based on their ownership percentage. In tokenised real estate, these shares are represented as blockchain tokens.
Utility Token : A digital token that provides access to services within a specific blockchain platform. Unlike security tokens, utility tokens are not structured as investment contracts. BLK is the utility token of BlockHaus, a UK property company.
Polygon : A proof of stake blockchain that works like Ethereum and records regular checkpoints on Ethereum. Transactions cost a few cents, paid in POL. BlockHaus runs its presale on Polygon.
DeFi Composability : The ability to combine different decentralised finance protocols and use tokens across multiple applications. Higher composability means more options for lending, borrowing, yield farming, and liquidity provision using your tokens.
Secondary Market : A marketplace where investors can sell their holdings to other buyers after the initial purchase. The existence and liquidity of a secondary market determines how easily you can exit a position. Not all tokenised real estate platforms offer built-in secondary markets.
Can I hold RealT tokens and BLK at the same time?
Yes. These platforms operate independently on different blockchains. RealT tokens sit on Ethereum or Gnosis Chain and BLK sits on Polygon. Note that RealT is in voluntary liquidation and its payouts are suspended. There is no exclusivity requirement on any of these platforms.Which platform has lower transaction fees?
BlockHaus on Polygon and Lofty on Algorand both offer very low transaction fees, typically fractions of a penny. RealT transactions on Gnosis Chain are also cheap, though Ethereum mainnet transactions can be significantly more expensive. Transaction fees matter most for investors making smaller, more frequent purchases. On Polygon, a $20 purchase of BLK costs a few cents in network fees, paid in POL.Why did BlockHaus choose a utility token instead of fractional ownership?
BlockHaus is a property company, not a platform selling shares in buildings. The company owns the property and keeps any profit to buy more property and run the business. BLK is sold to fund that. It gives no ownership of any building and pays no rent, dividends or returns, and its price is not tied to how the property performs.Is RealT still operating?
RealT announced voluntary liquidation on 2 July 2026, according to public reports. Payouts to holders are suspended and its homes are being sold. Anyone holding RealT tokens should follow its official updates.Does Lofty pay dividends?
Lofty distributes rental income to token holders proportionally based on ownership stake. The platform estimates annual returns of 12 to 16%, combining rental yield and property appreciation. These distributions function similarly to dividends, though the specific legal and tax classification may vary by jurisdiction. Distributions are not guaranteed and depend on occupancy, rental rates, and property expenses.Tahar Ali CEO & Founder, BlockHaus Tahar Ali is the founder and CEO of BlockHaus, with 35 years in property.
