Coinbase and Better, a digital mortgage lender, launched a crypto-backed mortgage product that allows homebuyers to use bitcoin or USDC held in Coinbase accounts to help fund a home purchase, expanding the use of digital assets in the U.S. housing market.
The companies said the loans will be originated and serviced by Better and will carry the same Fannie Mae backing as other conforming mortgages. Under the structure, borrowers would not need to sell their crypto holdings to raise cash for a down payment, a hurdle that has long limited the use of digital assets in traditional mortgage underwriting.
Bringing Crypto Into Home Finance
Coinbase framed the product as a response to rising barriers to homeownership, arguing that high borrowing costs, elevated home prices, and tight housing supply have made it harder for younger and lower-income buyers to enter the market.
The company said many Americans have built meaningful wealth in digital assets but have been unable to use those holdings in the mortgage process without first liquidating them, potentially giving up future gains or triggering taxes.
By allowing borrowers to pledge crypto as collateral for a separate loan used to cover the down payment, Coinbase said the product is designed to turn digital wealth into purchasing power without forcing a sale of those assets.
How the Structure Works
The companies said borrowers would close with two loans. The first would be a standard Fannie Mae mortgage on the home, while the second would fund the cash down payment and would be secured by the borrower’s pledged crypto.
Better said both loans would carry the same interest rate and amortization term, leaving borrowers with one combined monthly payment.
Coinbase gave an example of a buyer purchasing a $500,000 home by pledging $250,000 in bitcoin to obtain a $100,000 loan for the down payment. The crypto would remain in custody in Better’s Coinbase Prime account for the life of the loan and would be returned once the down payment loan is repaid, according to the company.
Coinbase also said borrowers who pledge bitcoin would not see their mortgage terms change with swings in bitcoin’s price.
Broader Push for Real-World Crypto Use
The launch fits into a wider effort by crypto firms to present digital assets as tools for mainstream finance rather than speculative holdings alone. Coinbase said the mortgage product builds on its broader lineup of crypto-backed loans and USDC lending, and described housing finance as a next step in bringing on-chain assets into regulated, government-backed systems.
Earlier Efforts to Bring Crypto Into Home Finance
This is not the first attempt to bring crypto into home finance, as earlier lenders had already explored ways for borrowers to use digital assets to secure home loans.
Milo, a fintech lender, began offering crypto-backed mortgages in 2022, allowing borrowers to pledge digital assets instead of selling them to buy property, and said in February 2026 that it had surpassed $100 million in originations.
A separate step came in June 2025, when the Federal Housing Finance Agency ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider cryptocurrency holdings in single-family mortgage risk assessments, marking an important policy shift.
Together, those earlier moves helped lay the groundwork for Better and Coinbase’s latest push into mainstream housing finance.
