Overview
- The product, which Coinbase and Better announced Wednesday, moved from a June pilot to general U.S. availability and was open to Coinbase One members for applications starting August 12.
- Borrowers may use only Bitcoin and USDC as eligible tokens and must place pledged assets in custody so the tokens cannot be spent while the down-payment loan runs.
- Better applies conservative collateral terms by valuing Bitcoin well below spot price—company materials cite roughly a 40% loan-to-value reference—and some published product pages show borrowers may need to pledge roughly 250% of the deposit loan value.
- Coinbase One members who qualify get a lender credit equal to 1% of the mortgage value up to $10,000, and the companies said their waitlist represented about $260 million in projected loan volume before launch.
- The firms warn borrowers that converting pledged crypto to cash would usually create a tax event and that volatility or missed payments could lead to sale of pledged tokens, while regulators and market watchers will track adoption and any wider price effects for Bitcoin.