TLDR
- Coinbase and Better Mortgage have jointly funded the first-ever Fannie Mae-insured mortgage backed by Bitcoin in the U.S.
- The borrowers, a couple from Ann Arbor, Michigan, pledged Bitcoin and USDC as collateral instead of selling their crypto for a cash down payment.
- Coinbase handles the custody and transaction infrastructure, while Better Mortgage services the loan.
- The product is built on Fannie Mae’s conforming mortgage framework, meaning it operates within existing financial system standards.
- Better Mortgage estimates $250 million in projected loan volume from its waitlist, with a nationwide rollout planned for summer 2026.
Coinbase (COIN) and digital mortgage lender Better Home & Finance have closed what they describe as the first Fannie Mae-insured mortgage backed by Bitcoin in the United States. The milestone was announced Thursday and marks a practical first for both the crypto and housing industries.
The borrowers are Joe and Amy, a married couple in their early 30s from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Joe, a software engineer, had meaningful Bitcoin holdings but not enough cash on hand for a traditional down payment — a hurdle that blocks many crypto-heavy buyers from entering the housing market.
Instead of liquidating their Bitcoin — a move that would have triggered capital gains taxes and forced them out of a long-term position — the couple pledged their BTC and USDC as collateral through Coinbase. That collateral secured a separate loan to cover the down payment, while the main home loan remained a standard Fannie Mae conforming mortgage.
“We closed on our home, and my Bitcoin stayed intact,” Joe said. “We didn’t have to liquidate, didn’t have to time the market, and didn’t have to start over financially.”
The process is fully digital. Roy Zhang, Coinbase’s director of product, explained that borrowers apply through Better’s platform, then log into Coinbase with a single click to move Bitcoin into a custodial wallet. From there, the process is complete.
How Fannie Mae Fits In
The Fannie Mae backing is a key part of why this matters. Fannie Mae, a U.S. government-sponsored enterprise, announced in March that it would begin accepting crypto assets for mortgage down payments.
Better CEO Vishal Garg called this a “generational next step,” noting that complying with Fannie Mae’s underwriting requirements means the product is a standard financial instrument — not a niche crypto experiment.
“It basically means that you have a U.S. government-sponsored enterprise accepting digital assets as a replacement for cash in a bank account as collateral,” Garg said. Importantly, collateral is not liquidated under the current structure.
Nationwide Rollout Planned for Summer
Better has already launched a waitlist for the product and is targeting a full nationwide rollout this summer. Based on waitlist data, the company projects $250 million in loan volume.
Mark Troianovski, Coinbase’s head of consumer and platform partnerships, framed this as proof that Bitcoin can be more than a passive holding. “Tens of millions of Americans have built real wealth in digital assets,” he said. “That wealth now has a direct path to homeownership.”
Garg added that the product is expected to expand beyond Bitcoin and USDC to include tokenized stocks and other digital assets over time.
