ROI on housing is unpredictable for sure. Maintenance costs are a nightmare. But in California some people bought houses in the 1960's, and then when they sold they were worth three million dollars because property values jumped so much in that time period. Those days are long gone though!

If you don't control those keys it's not really yours, on that you are right. Binance may be stable, but one never really knows. But if you make $5K a year that's pretty tempting, and I see why someone would want to invest. Still, a scary investment for me personally...