The US housing finance system is moving toward recognizing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in mortgage underwriting without requiring borrowers to sell first. The shift comes from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte, who instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare proposals for treating crypto as an asset for reserves in single-family mortgage risk assessments without conversion to US dollars.
That matters because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sit at the center of the conventional mortgage market. They do not issue home loans directly, but they buy mortgages from lenders, package them into securities, and guarantee payments to investors. The source article notes that they back the majority of America’s roughly 51 million mortgages, so changes in their underwriting standards tend to ripple across the wider lending market.
The main change is the end of the forced liquidation step
Under earlier rules, crypto was largely ignored unless it had already been sold into dollars. A borrower could hold $100,000 in Bitcoin, yet that wealth would not help much in a mortgage file until the coins were liquidated, the proceeds were placed in a bank account, and the funds were properly documented. The new framework is aimed at changing that narrow point: verified crypto holdings could count as reserves while the borrower keeps the coins.
For applicants, the practical benefit is clear. Selling crypto to qualify for a mortgage can trigger a taxable event, remove exposure to future upside, and force a decision at whatever market price exists at the time of application. If crypto can be recognized without liquidation, borrowers with large holdings in Bitcoin or Ethereum may finally have those assets reflected in their financial profile.
Crypto would support reserves, not replace cash at closing
The proposal is still more limited than some headlines suggest. The immediate role for crypto is expected to be in mortgage reserves, the financial cushion lenders look for when assessing whether a borrower can keep paying if income is disrupted. That is different from using crypto directly for a down payment or closing costs, which still generally requires dollars that can be sourced and seasoned.
So the near-term interpretation is not “buy a house with Bitcoin” in the direct sense. It is closer to “Bitcoin holdings may strengthen the mortgage application.” For self-employed borrowers or applicants whose wealth sits mostly in digital assets rather than cash, that distinction still matters a great deal.
Exchange custody, valuation cuts, and reserve caps remain key limits
The source material outlines several conditions. Eligible crypto is expected to be limited to assets held on a US-regulated centralized exchange, where ownership can be verified through account statements and compliance records. Holdings kept elsewhere may not qualify under the initial framework.
There is also likely to be a volatility discount. Because crypto prices can swing sharply, the government-sponsored enterprises are expected to apply risk-based haircuts rather than count holdings at full market value. The article gives an example in which $100,000 in Bitcoin might be recognized as only $60,000 to $70,000 in reserves. On top of that, the share of total reserves made up of crypto is expected to face limits, which means borrowers are unlikely to rely on digital assets alone.
Self-custody has become the biggest point of dispute
The strongest criticism has focused on the exchange requirement. Casa CEO Nick Neuman argued that self-custodied holdings can also be verified, using cryptographic signatures that prove control of a wallet without handing it over to a third party. From that view, restricting eligibility to exchange-held assets ignores one of crypto’s basic principles and excludes many long-term holders who deliberately keep coins off exchanges.
For now, though, the framework described in the source remains a policy process rather than a finished nationwide mortgage product. The article says implementation is moving through 2026, with guidelines being drafted and some lenders beginning to experiment. Even with those limits, the shift is still notable: the US conventional mortgage system is taking its first formal step toward treating cryptocurrency as a recognized asset class in underwriting instead of forcing borrowers to cash out first.