Coinbase, Better Close First US Bitcoin-Backed Mortgage Deal

First loan closing

First announced in March, the inaugural Fannie Mae-backed loan was closed by an Ann Arbor, Michigan, married couple, identified only as "Joe and Amy," who pledged their Bitcoin holdings as collateral for the purchase of the home without having to liquidate them.

The Better-Coinbase product shows that digital portfolios can be used to secure mainstream consumer credit on par with cash, stocks and bonds.

A 20% down payment has historically been considered the benchmark for conforming US mortgages, though many borrowers put down less.

Adding more coins 

The companies said in a 4 Jun statement that they will roll out the product nationwide to qualified borrowers by this summer. The product initially supports Bitcoin and Circle's USDC stablecoin, with more digital assets to be added 'as the market matures,' they said.

Under a dual-loan system, Better acts as the traditional lender for the primary mortgage, while Coinbase holds the borrower’s digital assets in a secure, locked vault to cover a second loan used for the down payment. 

Borrowers must lock up collateral exceeding the down payment amount, such as $250,000 in Bitcoin, to secure a $100,000 cash down payment to mitigate volatility in the crypto market. The user makes a single, combined monthly payment to Better, and the cryptocurrency remains in Coinbase’s custody until the loan is satisfied.

Fannie Mae rule change

Fannie Mae's previous selling guide required crypto holdings to be converted into US dollars before loan closing for them to count toward borrower reserves, citing the volatility and speculative nature of digital assets.

On 25 Jun 2025, the Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare proposals to treat crypto as a reserve asset in single-family mortgage risk assessments, without requiring its conversion into dollars. The directive applies only to holdings stored on US-regulated centralised exchanges and requires risk-based adjustments to account for crypto volatility.

Wealth in wrong wallet

Vishal Garg, founder and CEO of Better, said the crypto-backed mortgage marks a shift in the US housing finance market. He noted that millions of qualified home buyers have built their savings in digital assets rather than in traditional bank accounts.

The dual-loan product provides a solution for "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."

More than 67mn Americans are estimated to own crypto, representing one in four US adults and a rise of 12mn from 2025, according to the 13 May State of Crypto Holders Report from the National Cryptocurrency Association.