On June 25, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William J. Pulte ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — the two government-sponsored enterprises that help keep mortgage dollars flowing in the housing market — to include cryptocurrencies in their risk evaluations for single-family mortgage loans.
Currently, if you own bitcoin, ethereum or other digital assets, Fannie and Freddie’s guidelines require you to convert them into U.S. dollars before they can be used to qualify for a home loan. The updated policy will allow borrowers to use unconverted crypto to meet mortgage reserve requirements. (You’d still need to convert crypto assets used for a down payment.) However, the directive states that only crypto assets that can be evidenced and stored on a U.S.-regulated centralized exchange, subject to all applicable laws, can be considered.
According to Pulte, this decision aligns with President Donald Trump’s broader push to position the United States at the forefront of the global cryptocurrency market.
How important is this change, and how will it impact the mortgage market? We turned to a group of industry experts for their analyses.
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Q: How Significant Is This News?
Josip Rupena, CEO of Milo, a digital bank that funds crypto-backed mortgages: “This move is a pivotal shift in how crypto is viewed within the traditional financial system. For years, borrowers with digital assets were forced to sell them just to meet outdated guidelines that didn’t recognize crypto as legitimate wealth. Now, we’re seeing a real step toward aligning underwriting with how wealth is actually held today. Research shows that 12% to 15% of first-time homebuyers in the last few years sold digital assets to qualify. That stat alone shows the scale of pent-up demand.”
Lawrence Yun, chief economist and senior vice president of research for the National Association of Realtors: “Broadening the asset to include crypto means slightly more Americans can qualify to get a mortgage without even selling crypto. Overall, this could lead to more home sales.”
Dan Green, president, Homebuyer.com: “For most homebuyers, practically, it’s a nothingburger. Loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac primarily serve middle-income borrowers who rarely hold enough crypto to affect their qualifications. What this change really does is lay the groundwork for the future. The GSEs may now be able to shape which cryptocurrencies count, which may give certain players an advantage.”
Dennis Shirshikov, an adjunct professor of finance and economics at City University of New York: “It’s a big deal because it democratizes access for crypto-rich but cash-poor buyers. Most conforming-loan borrowers don’t need to rely heavily on reserves, but high-net-worth investors often do, and allowing them to pledge coins opens the market to a new group of buyers.”
Falen Pitts, director of public affairs and external relations for the Mortgage Bankers Association: “MBA welcomes what should be a collective industry effort to modernize the mortgage underwriting process. Crypto as a reserve asset is one option, and there are many other impactful approaches to rethinking the underwriting of mortgage risk that should be included in the effort.”
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Q: What Are the Pros and Cons of This Change?
Rupena: “It allows borrowers to keep their crypto rather than liquidating, which means avoiding taxable events and preserving long-term upside. It also validates crypto as a core part of modern financial profiles. This change has the potential to bring more responsible borrowers into the system and give them access to homeownership. But the current framework assumes assets are held on centralized, U.S.-regulated exchanges. That’s not representative of how many crypto holders operate, especially globally. Until there’s a clear path for recognizing self-custodied assets, the impact may be limited to a narrow subset of borrowers.”
Christy Soukhamneut, chief lending officer, University Federal Credit Union: “It fosters inclusivity by accounting for the diverse ways individuals build wealth today, potentially enabling larger groups to access homeownership opportunities that were previously out of reach. But this change is unlikely to have a major impact on housing affordability or dramatically increase the pool of eligible buyers in any given market.”
Shirshikov: “Borrowers have more options, and lenders have access to a wider pool of customers. Crypto reserves also can represent early warning signals if the lending protocols monitor on-chain transfers for loan servicing. On the downside, there are issues of operational complexity, regulatory confusion and the risk, in a worst-case scenario, of systemic instability in the event of an individual token crash.”
Green: “Crypto is not a rainy-day currency. Values can drop 30% overnight. There are real risks to consumers, lenders and markets around volatility, liquidity, and verification.”
Q: How Do You Think This Change Will Play Out in Practice?
Steven Glick, director of mortgage sales for HomeAbroad: “I think it’ll start slow as lenders and the GSEs figure out the logistics. Borrowers with crypto on U.S.-regulated exchanges like Coinbase will need to show proof of those holdings, and lenders will likely work with Fannie and Freddie to set clear valuation methods. It’s a new frontier, so expect some trial and error before it’s smooth sailing.”
Green: “In practice, most mortgage lenders will tread carefully. Lenders will likely discount cryptocurrency heavily or require it to be parked for months on a U.S.-regulated exchange prior to using it. The policy looks progressive in the headline, but it will play out more like other asset-backed programs on the ground.”
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Q: How Do You Think Lenders Will Count Crypto Assets?
Green: “Cautiously. I would expect valuations at 10% of market value for purposes of qualification, maybe even less. Rules may also require that assets are held on U.S.-regulated exchanges, seasoned, not staked or borrowed against, and otherwise liquid.”
Shirshikov: “In reality, lenders will have to factor in live price feeds and apply dynamic haircuts to accommodate crypto volatility. For instance, instead of treating 100% of a borrower’s bitcoin balance as collateral, a lender might treat only 60% or 70% after applying a ‘volatility’ adjustment.”
Glick: “I’d expect them to use real-time exchange data from regulated platforms, averaging the value over 30 or 60 days to smooth out the ups and downs. They’ll likely cap how much of the reserve can be crypto — maybe 20% to 30% — to keep things balanced with traditional assets.”
Rupena: “Lenders will likely apply the same framework they use for equities, requiring proof via exchange statements, possibly recognizing 70% to 80% of the asset value to account for volatility. But this leaves out a huge portion of holders who use cold wallets or (decentralized) platforms.” (Cold wallets are secure, offline ways to store cryptocurrency. They can be hardware devices similar to a USB drive or paper lists of cryptocurrency keys.)
Soukhamneut: “While Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may change their guidelines, not all lenders may follow suit. Some lenders might impose overlays on the agency requirements, adding stricter policies to mitigate risks. Additionally, many lenders sell loans to aggregators, and without aggregator adoption of this policy, its practical impact may be negligible.”
Q: How Will This Change Affect Lenders and Borrowers?
Rupena: “It will impact crypto-native borrowers, people with real wealth stored digitally, but who haven’t fit into the traditional mold. These are often entrepreneurs, first-time buyers and global citizens who have been underserved by conventional lenders. For lenders, it’s an opportunity to responsibly expand access to credit while adapting to a changing wealth landscape. But the operational side, how to verify, value, and monitor these assets, will need rapid development.”
Soukhamneut: “This change will impact lender workflows, requiring new processes to evaluate and manage cryptocurrency assets. The volatility of crypto markets creates challenges in determining reliable asset values, as fluctuations could lead to discrepancies between the asset’s worth at the time of qualification versus at closing. Timing becomes a critical factor, as lenders must establish methods to lock in valuations while mitigating risks for both borrowers and themselves. These operational adjustments will demand careful planning and ongoing monitoring to avoid adverse impacts.”
Green: “For mortgage lenders, I expect compliance hurdles and risk model complexity. For borrowers, the effect is more narrow. Maybe some tiny sliver of crypto-native, tech-forward buyers will qualify on the margin, but this won’t move the needle for your typical first-time buyer with $7,000 in a Coinbase.”
Shirshikov: “It will matter more to tech-savvy, asset-rich borrowers who want to keep their coins instead of selling for fiat. Think serial entrepreneurs who have a stake in token ventures and former employees of early blockchain start-ups. That will require lenders to develop new underwriting protocols and turn toward custodial partnerships, but the payoff is a differentiated product that draws in the wealthier, on-chain natives.”
Glick: “This could spark innovation, maybe even push lenders to offer crypto-specific mortgage products. But let’s keep an eye on regulation; if the rules tighten or crypto tanks, it could hit hard.”
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Fannie and Freddie Must Consider Crypto: What the Experts Say originally appeared on usnews.com
