While cryptocurrency assets are still on the nose with many institutional lenders/investors, would-be homebuyers in the United States may end up being able to use them to help get their mortgage application over the line. This eventuality may result from a U.S. government cryptocurrency policy turnaround.
Contrary to a ruling [on crypto] made under the former Biden Administration, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) William J Pulte has ordered iconic U.S. home lenders – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – to prepare businesses for a watershed decision to make crypto part of mainstream lending.
Having been put under government control following the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis bailout, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – which back most of the country’s 51 million residential mortgages – play a vital role in the US$12 trillion U.S. home loan market.
Both companies also play a pivotal role in the secondary mortgage market, buying and securitising mortgages.
Risk assessment to include crypto assets
Pulte specifically wants businesses to formally consider cryptocurrency as an asset in a single-family mortgage loan risk assessment.
Pulte’s order specifically directs both housing finance giants to develop proposals that include digital assets, without requiring borrowers to liquidate them in U.S. dollars prior to a loan closing.
Interestingly, the number of people cashing in on cryptocurrencies in the U.S. to buy a home is remarkably low. Only 1% of respondents to a National Association of Realtors survey said they'd used proceeds from the sale of crypto to buy a home between July 2023 and June 2024.
Undoubtedly influenced by U.S. President Donald Trump's family’s rapidly expanding cryptocurrency empire, Pulte expects this new edict to better align with plans to position the United States as a prominent global hub for cryptocurrency innovation.
However, Pulte is no stranger to cryptocurrency, with public records revealing that as of January 2025, his spouse owned between $500,000 and $1 million of Bitcoin and a similar amount of Solana’s SOL token.
Volatility and regulatory uncertainty
Up until now, cryptocurrency in the U.S. has been excluded from underwriting frameworks due not only to volatility, but also to regulatory uncertainty, and the inability to easily verify reserves.
The latest cryptocurrency directive, which restricts consideration to digital assets stored on U.S.-regulated, centralised exchanges - where reserves can be clearly evidenced - arrives amid rapidly growing institutional acceptance of crypto across banking, payments, and federal policy.
Pulte and Co expect their policy change to encourage banks to expand how they gauge borrowers’ creditworthiness, resulting in more aspiring homebuyers qualifying for a home loan.
As an emerging asset class, potentially offering wealth-building opportunities outside traditional markets, the FHFA acknowledges crypto’s growing role in household financial portfolios.
Over two-thirds of Americans own crypto
Meanwhile, based on the 2025 Crypto Ownership Report, 70% of American adults will this year own cryptocurrency, which translates to approximately 183 million individuals.
This means the factoring-in of cryptocurrency assets will have a material impact on family mortgage loan risk assessments going forward.
According to Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, this outcome is a big win for advocates of cryptocurrencies who want crypto to be treated the same way as other assets.
This outcome puts cryptocurrencies on the same footing as other qualifying assets like share investments. But with the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008 in their rearview mirror, Fairweather suspects some lenders may choose to discount them due to their heightened volatility.
“As long as lenders are appropriately discounting crypto based on volatility, it’s fine that crypto investments count toward reserves,” she said.
Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com sees plans by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to accept cryptocurrency as collateral, as a strong incentive for banks to shift their practices.
"Because people who might otherwise have to sell cryptocurrency to qualify — and maybe that’s a deal-breaker for them now — under this new policy, they can qualify. It sort of expands the potential pool of eligible buyers,” she said.
The decision to include cryptocurrency assets within mortgage applications could be a welcome kicker for the U.S. housing market, which as of April, had around 34% more sellers than buyers shopping for a home, according to an analysis by Redfin.
