Another day, another way that crypto is disrupting a multi-trillion-dollar market.
William Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to begin recognising certain cryptocurrency holdings as legitimate assets when assessing mortgage applications.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac ordered to consider crypto as an asset when buying mortgages – ABC News https://t.co/nxRn8zaUDa
— Pulte (@pulte) June 26, 2025
Until recently, most crypto holders would have been forced to liquidate their digital assets to put towards a mortgage.
While some lending services exist that allow some cryptos, particularly BTC or ETH, to be used as collateral for receiving fiat loans, these are still few and far between.
What is surprising is how many cryptocurrencies will be accepted as part of this.
Which ones? Those that “can be evidenced and stored on a U.S.-regulated centralized exchange subject to all applicable laws” will make the cut.
As Coinbase and Kraken, two of the USA’s largest centralised exchanges, support a broad range of cryptocurrencies, loan underwriters will receive some unusual applications in the coming months.
Fartcoiners rejoice, your beloved asset is listed on these platforms, along with other US-regulated CEXs.
A more pragmatic approach would have been to offer BTC, ETH, and other major crypto assets as collateral. Still, memecoin enthusiasts with large bags would likely have cried foul about “discrimination”.
Then again, as long as mortgage applicants can supply sufficient collateral, such as coins or tokens, to secure a loan, I don’t see a problem.
This begs the question: How do these firms account for volatility, particularly with altcoins?
Loan underwriters will likely determine the loan amount based on historical price trends and the applicant’s overall financial history, credit score, and other relevant factors.
If I had to take a guess, there would likely be a need to significantly over-collateralise the mortgage to compensate for price drops.
I am almost certain that those relying on cryptocurrencies to secure a larger percentage of their mortgage will have to pay a higher interest rate, probably a variable one in line with market fluctuations.
Additional thoughts
If this can work for mortgages, then more financial institutions will gradually embrace this option. Moreover, this service will eventually be offered for personal, car and other loans in the future.
I recently applied for a personal loan at my bank (in Australia), and they completely disregarded the value of my crypto assets and stocks, even though the value was several times higher than the value of the loan.
The only option for us is to utilise cryptocurrency lending platforms available in your country, until banks agree to offer these services. This is likely to begin with Bitcoin and a handful of large-cap altcoins that have ample daily liquidity.
I am all for giving consumers more options to use a broader range of assets towards a home loan.
While there will be doubters and detractors, even within financial institutions that begin offering these mortgages, I believe they can implement enough provisions to responsibly offer loans (at least partially) backed by BTC.
It’s exciting to see so much progress in this space over the past six months: A budget-neutral U.S. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, the Senate passing the GENIUS Act earlier this month, and now, this FHFA decision.
What other major Bitcoin/crypto developments are you looking forward to? Comment below.
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https://cryptowithlorenzo.medium.com/these-crypto-scams-are-becoming-more-sophisticated-40f35dc6e657
https://medium.com/@cryptowithlorenzo/its-not-too-late-to-own-at-least-half-a-bitcoin-eba7ac43a21c
https://cryptowithlorenzo.medium.com/bitcoin-is-going-to-zero-5562122f5481
Disclaimers
- This blog post is for informational purposes only. It is not financial, legal, or investment advice. You are ultimately responsible for your decisions.
- My opinions in this piece may not reflect those of any news outlet, person, organisation, or entity listed here.
- Please do your own research before investing in any cryptocurrency assets, staking, NFTs, or other products associated with this space.
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