Key facts
- Better Mortgage is launching a nationwide mortgage product accepting Bitcoin and USDC as collateral.
- Coinbase is partnering with Better Mortgage to facilitate the crypto transactions.
- The first loan was issued to a couple in Ann Arbor, Michigan, backed by Bitcoin.
- Fannie Mae is providing conforming guarantees for these crypto-collateralized mortgages.
- The pledged collateral is not subject to liquidation if its value falls.
Better Mortgage is launching a new home loan product nationwide this summer that allows borrowers to use Bitcoin and USDC as collateral. The company has a waitlist open and projects a loan volume of $250 million based on initial signups. Coinbase is partnering with Better Mortgage to power the underlying transactions, with borrowers authorizing their crypto to move into a custodial wallet. The first loan under this arrangement was issued to a couple in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A key differentiator for this product is the involvement of Fannie Mae, a government-sponsored enterprise that announced in March it would accept crypto for mortgage down payments. Fannie Mae's conforming guarantee makes the loan a standard financial instrument. Better's founder and CEO, Vishal Garg, highlighted the significance of a US government-sponsored enterprise accepting digital assets as collateral. The product is expected to expand to include other digital assets, such as tokenized stocks, in the future. Unlike standard margin-backed lending, the pledged collateral is not subject to liquidation if its value decreases during the loan term. Coinbase announced the first funded loan, noting it as the first Fannie Mae-insured mortgage backed by Bitcoin in the U.S. The full rollout is anticipated before the end of summer, with Better handling loan servicing and Coinbase managing the digital asset infrastructure.