Fannie Mae is launching a pilot program that will allow bitcoin and the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) to be used as collateral for conventional home loans, a move that mortgage and crypto firms say could widen access to homeownership for digital-asset holders. The government-sponsored enterprise announced the change as part of a program that pairs mortgage lender Better with crypto platform Coinbase; Better expects an official rollout in June and is already gathering a waitlist as some loans are being processed to work out operational details.
Under the Better–Coinbase offering, borrowers will be able to pledge crypto assets as the down payment without selling them. The structure combines a standard mortgage with a crypto-backed down-payment loan into a single payment, rate and term. Fannie Mae’s pilot sets specific collateral requirements: bitcoin pledges must be worth at least 250% of the down-payment loan and USDC pledges at least 125%. That means, for example, a $250,000 bitcoin pledge could support a $100,000 down-payment loan, while $125,000 in USDC would be required for the same $100,000 loan.
Coinbase’s head of business development, Mark Troianovski, said early demand has been strong, with every person on the waitlist representing someone who has held crypto for years and now sees a practical use for it. Better CEO Vishal Garg said the program could ultimately allow many tokenized assets beyond bitcoin and USDC to back home purchases — including tokenized ETFs and company stocks — enabling owners to access home financing without selling highly appreciated holdings. Coinbase One members who get approved through Better will also be eligible for a closing-cost lender credit equal to 1% of the mortgage amount, capped at $10,000.
Nonbank lenders that have been offering crypto mortgages already argue the product fills a financing gap for wealth held in digital assets. Milo, a specialist crypto mortgage lender, has originated over $100 million in crypto-backed loans, including a record $12 million mortgage, and provides 100% financing without traditional income documentation. Milo founder Josip Rupena described loans that feature a 30-year term with the first 10 years interest-only, then amortization over the remaining 20 years. Milo requires borrowers to post crypto equal to the loan amount as collateral; it also offers a self-custody option in which Milo verifies holdings while the client retains direct control of their keys.
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Milo’s model includes steep drawdown protections: if bitcoin falls by 65% from the pledged value, borrowers must add collateral or reduce the loan balance. Rupena said in three-and-a-half years of originations the company has not yet needed to call for additional collateral. Milo’s rates run about half a percentage point above conventional mortgages, he said, reflecting a modest pricing premium for the product.
Industry advisers and wealth managers caution that crypto-backed mortgages come with trade-offs. Bryan Courchesne, CEO of crypto-focused registered investment adviser Daim.io, noted the 250% bitcoin-to-down-payment threshold for the Better program could mean borrowers need substantially more assets on hand than they would when funding a down payment in cash — and that lenders are likely to price the loans at 125 to 150 basis points above prevailing mortgage rates because of added risk. The arrangement also echoes a familiar strategy among wealthy investors — “buy, borrow, die” — where assets are pledged rather than sold to defer capital gains taxes.
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Fannie Mae’s decision marks a significant step toward mainstreaming tokenized-asset financing, bringing a new cohort of lenders and fintechs into a once-niche market. With the Better–Coinbase pilot and lenders like Milo already active, the market will be watching how underwriting standards, pricing and operational safeguards evolve as crypto becomes an accepted form of collateral for conventional home financing.
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