Overview
- Better Home & Finance and Coinbase launched a program that lets homebuyers pledge Bitcoin or USD Coin to fund a down payment on a conforming mortgage eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae.
- The offering uses two loans, pairing a standard 15- or 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a separate crypto-backed loan that supplies the down payment.
- Pledged coins stay in custody with Coinbase Prime, which lets borrowers keep market exposure and avoid selling crypto that could trigger immediate taxes.
- The value of the pledged crypto only comes into play if a borrower defaults, when Better can liquidate the assets to cover the down-payment loan.
- Only Bitcoin and USD Coin qualify at launch, and participants must hold the assets in a Coinbase account and take the mortgage through Better, positioning the product as an early response to FHFA guidance to evaluate crypto in mortgage risk models.