Better Home & Finance, Coinbase to offer mortgage backed by
cryptocurrencies
[March 27, 2026] By
ALEX VEIGA
Prospective homebuyers who have invested in certain cryptocurrencies
will be able to use their holdings as collateral to fund their down
payment on a home as part of a new mortgage offering.
Real estate services company Better Home & Finance Holding Co. plans to
roll out the crypto-backed mortgage sometime in the next three months in
a partnership with crypto trading platform Coinbase, the companies said
in a press release Thursday.
“Better was founded to make homeownership more accessible for all
Americans, and this partnership with Coinbase introduces a new pathway
to realizing the American Dream for the 52 million Americans who own
digital assets,” said Vishal Garg, Better’s CEO, said in the release.
Use of cryptocurrency for buying a home remains generally limited. Among
the respondents in a National Association of Realtors survey of people
who bought a home between July 2024 and June 2025, only 1% of those who
made a down payment said they used proceeds from the sale of crypto.
However, the crypto-backed mortgage from Better would not require
borrowers to sell their crypto investments to fund their down payment.
Instead, borrowers who qualify for the mortgage would only have to
pledge such holdings and transfer them to Coinbase as collateral for
their down payment.
This allows the crypto investor to not have to lose out on potential
future gains in the value of their crypto the way they would if they
sold their holdings for cash.
Should their crypto drop in value, the mortgage terms remain unchanged
and no additional collateral is required, the companies noted in the
release. However, borrowers’ crypto collateral would be at risk of
liquidation if they fail to make their mortgage payments for 60 days.
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The Coinbase app icon is seen on a smartphone, Feb. 28, 2023, in
Marple Township, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
 The only type of cryptocurrencies
that borrowers will be able to offer up as collateral for Better’s
crypto-back mortgage are Bitcoin and USDC, a type of cryptocurrency
typically bought and sold for $1, the companies said.
Better noted that the crypto-backed mortgage is “designed in
accordance with Fannie Mae guidelines.” That means they can be
guaranteed by the mortgage giant, which makes them eligible for
“significantly lower interest rates,” than those of other
crypto-backed loans, the companies said.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have been under government control
since the Great Recession, buy mortgages that meet their risk
criteria from banks, which helps provide liquidity for the housing
market.
Banks seeking to make mortgages that qualify for purchase by the
mortgage giants have not typically considered a borrower’s crypto
holdings until they were sold, or converted, to dollars.
Last June, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which
oversees Fannie and Freddie, ordered the agencies to prepare a
proposal for consideration of crypto as an asset for reserves when
they assess risks in single-family home loans.
Shares in Better Homes & Finance Holding rose 5.4% Thursday.
Coinbase fell 4.3%.
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