Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the major mortgage lenders in the US, have been asked to prepare proposals for the use of cryptocurrency holdings as collateral for domestic mortgages.
"Fannie and Freddie" are US government sponsored enterprises managed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Between them, they back the majority of the mortgages in the country.
William Pulte, Head of the FHFA, announced on X that he had, “ordered the Great Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare their businesses to count cryptocurrency as an asset for a mortgage.”
Second in the world only to China, the housing market in the United States “is estimated to be valued at $52.14tn in 2025” according to a report from Coherent Market Insights. However, in a March 2025 report, the US Chamber of Commerce notes the “market is in crisis, driven by a fundamental imbalance between supply and demand.” This announcement may seek to change that by increasing the number of potential homebuyers in the market.
Source: @pulte on X
In his post, Pulte noted that this was, “in keeping with President Trump’s vision to make the United States the crypto capital of the world.”
Industry Expansion
Currently, stocks can be taken into consideration as qualifying assets for a mortgage but more volatile assets such as crypto cannot. Indeed, until now banks have typically required potential homebuyers to convert crypto assets into US dollars.
Allowing crypto assets to be counted towards a mortgage has the potential to shake up how the industry analyses credit.
The announcement points to crypto as an emerging asset class that offers “an opportunity to build wealth outside” TradFi. The shift potentially opens a wider pool of aspiring homebuyers, affording opportunity to crypto natives who do not want to liquidate their digital assets to be able to purchase a home.
Volatility Questions
However, the order comes with a key specification. Only crypto assets stored on a US-regulated centralized exchange will be eligible.
The announcement raised questions on social media. In the replies to Pulte’s X announcement, one account noted that there should be “guardrails around meme coins,” with others pointing out this should apply to Bitcoin only. Comments were selected at random as a brief and unscientific insight into how people might be feeling about the development.
Replies on X to Pulte's post
Notably, this latest government order requires that “each Enterprise is directed to consider additional risk mitigants per their own assessment, including adjustments for market volatility.”
How Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac opt to handle the volatility of the crypto markets will soon need to be answered as the order takes effect immediately.
