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Better Home & Finance Holding Co. and Coinbase have funded what the companies say is the first Fannie Mae-backed mortgage in the U.S. that uses bitcoin as collateral, marking a new step in the integration of digital assets into mainstream housing finance.
The companies announced Thursday that they plan to make the product available to eligible borrowers nationwide by the summer of 2026. Fannie Mae did not immediately respond to HousingWire‘s request for comment.
The mortgage product, first unveiled in March, allows borrowers to pledge digital assets rather than sell them to help secure financing. Initially, the program supports Bitcoin and the stablecoin USDC, with plans to add additional cryptocurrencies in the future.
Under the arrangement, borrowers can use their crypto holdings as collateral while retaining ownership of the assets, avoiding the need to liquidate investments that could trigger capital gains taxes or reduce future investment gains.
The first of these loans was issued to a married couple in their early 30s from Ann Arbor, Michigan, according to Better and Coinbase. The borrowers, a software engineer and a graduate student, used bitcoin holdings as collateral to purchase their first home rather than selling the assets to fund a traditional down payment.
The launch comes as housing affordability remains a challenge for many prospective buyers. Better said that 41% of its preapproved customers meet income and credit requirements but lack sufficient cash for a conventional down payment.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the median age of a first-time homebuyer has reached a record 40 years old, up from 32 a decade earlier, reflecting the impact of elevated mortgage rates, rising home prices and limited housing inventory.
Better founder and CEO Vishal Garg said the mortgage product is intended to serve borrowers whose wealth is concentrated in digital assets rather than traditional savings accounts.
“The 30-year fixed mortgage was designed for a generation that kept its savings in a bank account and built equity through a single employer,” Garg said in a statement. “That’s not the financial reality of millions of qualified buyers today that are building real wealth in digital assets.”
Coinbase is providing custody and infrastructure services for the program. The cryptocurrency exchange said the offering gives digital asset holders another way to use their investments without selling them.
“At Coinbase, we believe that Bitcoin should do more than sit in a wallet. It should work for the people who hold it,” said Mark Troianovski, head of consumer and platform partnerships at Coinbase.
“Funding the first token-backed conforming mortgage is one of the most tangible demonstrations of that vision that we have seen. Tens of millions of Americans have built real wealth in digital assets. That wealth now has a direct path to homeownership, creating new opportunities for the next generation of homebuyers.”
This article was written by Sarah Wolak and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.
