Homebuyers could soon be able to count bitcoin and other cryptocurrency holdings as qualifying assets when applying for a mortgage, in a significant departure from previous policy.
In a memo on Wednesday, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare proposals for considering cryptocurrency as an asset in single-family mortgage risk assessments.
If and when the rule change comes into effect, it would make it easier for homebuyers who own cryptocurrency to qualify for a mortgage, and potentially increase their loan amount limits, without converting the crypto into cash.
Currently, mortgage lenders count stocks, bonds, and cash when considering a prospective borrower’s assets. Cryptocurrency has not previously been counted as an asset on home loan applications.
However, the proposed change does not involve using crypto to make monthly mortgage payments, which would still need to be paid in dollars.
“Today is a historic day in the cryptocurrency industry and the mortgage industry, whereby Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now positioned to involve Cryptocurrencies in Mortgages,” Pulte wrote in a post on the social media site X.
Pulte, who is also the chairman of Fannie and Freddie, added that the decision was in keeping with President Donald Trump‘s “vision to make the United States the crypto capital of the world.”
The new order directs government-backed mortgage giants Fannie and Freddie to propose new rules for how cryptocurrency could be considered as an asset for mortgages.
Pulte’s memo specifies that only crypto held in U.S.-regulated central exchanges would qualify, and directs the entities to consider risk mitigation measures to account for volatility in crypto markets.
Any final rule change would have to be approved by the boards of directors of Fannie and Freddie.
Although Fannie and Freddie do not originate loans themselves, the two entities are powerful forces in the world of mortgages as major buyers of whole loans for repackaging into securities.
Home loans that meet the rules and requirements set out by Fannie and Freddie are known as “conforming” mortgages, which are the type of loans offered by nearly all lenders and the most common mortgage vehicle for homebuyers.
The announcement of the rule change was met with enthusiasm by cryptocurrency boosters, who cheered it as a sign of mainstream adoption.
“Wow. Here we go!” wrote Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Winklevoss Capital Management and Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, in an X post.
The price of bitcoin, the oldest and largest cryptocurrency, rose 1.5% on Wednesday, topping $107,000.
