Key Highlights
- Fannie Mae, backing nearly 40% of US mortgages, is moving to allow crypto as part of mortgage reserves.
- Borrowers may no longer need to sell Bitcoin or Ethereum to qualify for home loans.
- Lenders could apply heavy discounts, valuing crypto at as low as 10% of the market price.
Fannie Mae, one of the two government-sponsored enterprises that back nearly 40% of all securitized mortgages in the United States, is set to accept crypto-backed mortgages for the very first time.
As per a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), this is a massive development for the crypto industry and for millions of digital asset holders in the U.S. who have long been forced to liquidate their Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other cryptocurrency holdings into fiat currency before they could even be considered for a home loan.
Until now, Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide explicitly required that any virtual currency used for down payments, closing costs, or financial reserves had to be exchanged into U.S. dollars and deposited into a regulated financial institution before a lender could count it.
That is about to change.
What changed and why it matters
The policy shift traces back to June 25, 2025, when Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William J. Pulte dropped a bombshell announcement.
Pulte ordered both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to begin preparing proposals that would allow borrowers to use their cryptocurrency holdings as reserves in single-family mortgage loan risk assessments without converting them into dollars.
Pulte’s exact words on X were clear: he directed the enterprises to count crypto as an asset for a mortgage, in keeping with President Donald Trump’s broader vision of making the United States the crypto capital of the world.
The directive laid out a few important conditions. Only crypto assets that can be evidenced and stored on a U.S.-regulated centralized exchange would be eligible. Each enterprise was also told to factor in risk mitigants, including adjustments for market volatility and caps on how much of a borrower’s total reserves could be composed of cryptocurrency.
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were instructed to prepare their proposals as soon as reasonably practical, with board approval required before submission to the FHFA.
From directive to reality
While the June 2025 directive set the wheels in motion, the road from announcement to implementation has not been instant. As recently as March 2026, industry sources told Scotsman Guide that there had been limited follow-up chatter from the GSEs on the specifics. An FHFA spokesperson, however, confirmed that crypto adoption for mortgages is rapidly increasing since the agency expressed its commitment and called it a big win.
In the meantime, private lenders have not been sitting idle. Newrez, which is owned by Rithm Capital (roughly $53 billion in assets under management), announced at the end of 2025 that it would launch a crypto-backed mortgage program. Bob Johnson, Head of Originations at Newrez, said that digital assets are now part of modern household balance sheets and that meaningful developments in liquidity, institutional adoption, and regulatory clarity have reinforced that crypto is here to stay in mortgage lending.
Coinbase and Better bring crypto mortgages closer to reality
A key piece of this shift is the growing role of crypto infrastructure providers like Coinbase. In a separate but closely related development, fintech lender Better has partnered with Coinbase to launch the first token-backed conforming mortgage, signaling how traditional housing finance is beginning to integrate directly with crypto platforms.
The program allows borrowers to pledge digital assets held on Coinbase as collateral, without liquidating them, aligning with the broader direction set by Fannie Mae’s evolving stance.
Under this model, Coinbase effectively acts as the custodian and verifier of crypto holdings, ensuring that assets meet regulatory and liquidity requirements expected by mortgage lenders. This addresses one of the biggest hurdles for crypto-backed lending—trust and verification—by anchoring digital assets within a regulated, transparent framework that institutions can rely on.
Another important aspect not to overlook is how this could reshape liquidity dynamics in the crypto market. If borrowers no longer need to sell Bitcoin or Ethereum to access large amounts of capital, it could reduce sell pressure during key market cycles. Over time, this may contribute to lower volatility and stronger long-term holding behavior among retail and high-net-worth investors.
At the same time, this integration introduces new systemic considerations. Housing finance is one of the largest and most sensitive sectors in the U.S. economy, and linking it with crypto markets means that price swings in digital assets could indirectly influence mortgage risk models.
This is why regulators and enterprises like the Federal Housing Finance Agency are emphasizing strict eligibility rules, conservative valuations, and robust risk controls as adoption moves forward.
What this means for crypto holders
For everyday crypto holders, this is a huge deal. Here is what you need to know:
You will be able to include crypto reserves in your mortgage application without being forced to sell your holdings. This eliminates the risk of triggering a taxable event at a bad time or being forced to liquidate during a market dip just to qualify for a home loan.
However, there are limitations. This change initially applies to reserves, not income qualification. Standard criteria like credit scores, debt-to-income ratios, and stable earnings still apply. And only crypto held on regulated platforms within U.S. jurisdiction will qualify. That means decentralized exchanges, cold wallets, and peer-to-peer holdings are likely to be excluded.
Industry experts also expect that lenders will apply heavy discounts on crypto valuations. Dan Green, President of Homebuyer.com, has suggested that lenders may value crypto at just 10% of market value for qualification purposes, with requirements that assets be seasoned, not staked, and otherwise liquid.
The bigger picture
This move is not happening in isolation. Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced the 21st Century Mortgage Act last year, which would formally require government-sponsored enterprises to consider digital assets when assessing mortgage eligibility. The Trump administration has been pushing hard on multiple fronts to integrate crypto into the traditional financial system, from the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order to this housing finance overhaul.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together guarantee over half of all U.S. mortgages, which means any change in their underwriting guidelines effectively becomes the industry standard that every other lender follows. This is not just a symbolic gesture. This is the foundation for crypto becoming a recognized asset class in the largest financial market in the world.
For crypto-native borrowers, especially those who are asset-rich but cash-poor, this could be a game-changer. And for the broader crypto ecosystem, this is yet another sign that digital assets are becoming deeply embedded into the fabric of American finance.
Also Read: Australia’s Hostplus Considers Bitcoin and Crypto Access for 2M Members
