Coinbase to Let Borrowers Use Crypto for Fannie Mae‑backed Mortgages

Coinbase and partner Better Home & Finance will let qualified borrowers pledge digital assets to fund Fannie Mae‑backed mortgages, with the program set to launch by summer 2026. Borrowers will initially be able to use Bitcoin (BTC) or USDC as collateral for loans to cover down payments.

The initiative, first announced in March, marks a notable shift in allowing digital assets to be used in home financing. Vishal Garg, founder and CEO of Better, said the plan aims to remove a common obstacle: "buyers who qualify on every measure that matters but cannot clear the down payment hurdle because their wealth isn’t where the system expects to find it." He added in a March post on X: "This isn’t a niche thing.

It’s what everyone is going to do once most financial assets are tokenized. It’s just a better way to buy a house." The move follows a June 2025 Federal Housing Finance Agency directive that asked Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider crypto as an asset in mortgage risk assessments without requiring conversion into fiat.

United States

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