The Great Transfer: How Bitcoin Will Demonize—and Then Demonetize—U.S. Housing

I. Introduction: The Vault That Lost Its Key

For most of the 20th century, American homeownership was a symbol of success and a reliable path to wealth, supported by federal housing policies like the GI Bill and mortgage interest deductions. But over the last two decades, something changed. Housing stopped being just shelter—and became the default savings account for the middle class.

Today, that system is cracking. Younger generations are priced out. Inflation and interest rates have broken the model. And a new digital alternative—Bitcoin—is emerging as a more efficient, more equitable store of value.

This essay argues that over the next decade, Bitcoin will absorb the “monetary premium” embedded in U.S. housing. It won’t replace homes as shelter. But it will rival—and eventually outcompete—them as a vault for wealth.