In an increasingly uncertain economic landscape and an often-hostile housing market, many Americans are approaching the dream of homeownership in a way their parents and grandparents would not have even dreamed of: cryptocurrency.
Americans’ interest in bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies has grown massively in recent years, especially among young people. More than 70 million people in the U.S.—about 30 percent of American adults—own cryptocurrency, with roughly one in three holders age 30 to 44, according to the latest data by consumer research company Security.org.
Until now, crypto holders who wanted to use their assets to buy a home in the U.S. could either convert it into fiat currency via a reputable exchange and then fund the purchase in a conventional way or find a buyer who would accept crypto directly. The first strategy can trigger significant capital gains and/or income taxes for the buyer (far from ideal), while the second happens rarely.
Now, thanks to recent changes to Fannie Mae’s rules, they can use their crypto assets as mortgage collateral—an option that opens the crypto wealth world to the most traditional of real-world purchases: homebuying.
What Is Changing for Crypto Holders?
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) directed Fannie Mae, which together with Freddie Mac backs a majority of the country’s total mortgages, to count crypto as mortgage reserves.
Under the proposal, only crypto held on U.S.-regulated exchanges such as Coinbase would qualify.
A homebuyer would take out two loans: a traditional 15- or 30-year Fannie-backed mortgage from mortgage company Better Home & Finance, and a separate loan, backed by either bitcoin or USDC, a popular stablecoin, to fund the down payment on the first, replacing a cash one. Once the crypto is put up as collateral, it cannot be traded.
The loans, which are then combined into a single interest rate, term and monthly payment, do not change if the value of crypto falls—as long as the borrower keeps making their monthly payments.
Major cryptocurrencies are seeing mixed performance today amid broader market shifts: bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $76,960, while ethereum (ETH) sits at near $2,130, based on Yahoo Finance data.
If pledging bitcoin, the collateral value must be at least 250 percent of the down payment loan, according to Yahoo Finance, while if pledging USDC, the initial value must be at least 125 percent of the down payment loan.
If approved for a loan by Better, borrowers using Coinbase would be eligible for a lender credit against closing costs equal to 1 percent of the mortgage amount, up to a maximum of $10,000.
Regardless of the fine details, Fannie Mae’s crypto-backed mortgages are a massive change for crypto holders unwilling to sell their crypto investment to help fund their down payments, as they are now able to use these assets to become homeowners without turning them into cash.
While not the first crypto-backed mortgage in the country, it is the first accepted by Fannie Mae, which is still under government conservatorship despite talks by President Donald Trump to privatize the two mortgage finance giants.
“This is a niche offering with one lender and one crypto exchange, but it’s important that Fannie Mae will back mortgage loans Better makes that use associated Coinbase crypto loans to fund down payments,” Jeff Taylor, who sits on the board of the Mortgage Bankers Association MBA and is founder and managing director at Mphasis Digital Risk, said in a statement shared with Newsweek.
“Fannie Mae often pilots programs with select parties this way before allowing mainstream adoption.”
The only downside for crypto holders wanting to buy a home is that taking out a second loan makes it more expensive than for conventional borrowers.
The crypto-backed mortgages are not available just yet, but their implementation is imminent. A waitlist to join a pilot program is available online. Newsweek contacted Coinbase and Better for comment by email on Tuesday morning.
Revolution for Younger Generations
The new mortgage product has been immediately portrayed as something that younger Americans will take advantage of more than their older peers.
“Token-backed mortgages are a major first step to unlocking homeownership for the younger generations that have struggled with barriers to saving for a traditional down payment,” Max Branzburg, head of consumer and business products at Coinbase, said in a March press release.
That is because younger people appear more interested in crypto than older Americans, and many are desperate for a way to step onto the property ladder at a time when the country is facing a yearslong housing affordability crisis with no clear end in sight.
A study published last summer by Redfin found that more than one in 10 (12.7 percent) young homebuyers—including Gen Zers and millennials—were using cryptocurrency to help fund their down payment in May 2025.
Among the older generations, the share of buyers using crypto to finance their purchase was much lower: only 3.5 percent of Gen Xers and 0.5 percent of baby boomers sold crypto investments to fund their down payment.
Young people view bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as “real money that holds and grows in value, perhaps even more than fiat money, therefore it’s easier to create a ‘stacking goal’ or savings goal and be more disciplined and frugal,” Yaël Ossowski, deputy director at the Consumer Choice Center and a fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, previously told Newsweek.
“A lot of people who shun traditional financial tools or plans have put more of their hope in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin because it at least has a chance of appreciation,” Ossowski said.
Are you a young person who just bought a home using crypto assets, or is considering doing so? I’d love to hear from you. Contact me at g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.
Trump Is Behind the Push for Crypto
Trump and his administration are largely behind the recent push to embrace cryptocurrency within the mainstream in the U.S., which has included the establishment of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the appointment of David Sacks as the nation’s first “crypto czar.”
In June 2025, FHFA Director William Pulte ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare to count cryptocurrency in mortgage risk assessments—as Fannie has done—saying the move was in line with the president’s vision of making the country “the crypto capital of the world.”
But the U.S. is not exactly being swayed by the promise of crypto, as volatility, security concerns and regulatory oversight remain issues for many.
The poll run by Security.org, which surveyed 992 U.S. adults, found that 61 percent of current crypto holders plan to invest even more in digital currencies this year, while just 6 percent without crypto plan to join the market in 2026.
