Better Home & Finance and Coinbase are preparing a new mortgage product tied to loans backed by Fannie Mae, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on March 26.
summary
- Better and Coinbase are planning a mortgage product that would let homebuyers use cryptocurrency holdings as collateral.
- The reported structure will combine a standard mortgage with a separate cryptocurrency-backed loan.
- Fannie Mae’s current rules require cryptocurrencies to be converted into dollars, making this product a policy shift.
The product will allow some homebuyers to use cryptocurrencies as collateral instead of selling that property before closing.
Report He said The new offering will allow buyers to “pledge their cryptocurrency holdings” when obtaining a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae. Better Home & Finance will act as a lender, while Coinbase will support the crypto side of the product.
The structure will use two loans. One would be a standard mortgage backed by Fannie Mae, while the second would be backed by the borrower’s cryptocurrency assets.
The reports said Bitcoin USDC and USDC are expected to be part of the program, but full eligibility details were not available at press time. The report also said that pledged cryptocurrencies cannot be traded while the loan is secured.
Borrowers will not need to sell their digital assets for a down payment. Reports added that interest rates on the cryptocurrency-backed segment could exceed standard mortgage rates.
Fannie Mae’s current selling guide says virtual currency can only be accounted for after it has been converted into U.S. dollars and placed in a regulated financial institution. This means that this new structure will represent a change in the current approach.
The move also comes on the heels of a 2025 FHFA order that required Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider cryptocurrency holdings in mortgage loan evaluations. The new product will take this process further by linking cryptocurrencies directly to mortgage collateral.
