Guide · Mortgages
Bitcoin mortgage: two different products under one name
A bitcoin mortgage is either an ordinary mortgage on the home whose down payment or reserves came from crypto, or a mortgage secured on bitcoin you pledge as collateral for the loan itself. Two products travel under one name, and only the second can margin-call you. This page is editorial: we do not arrange mortgages.
Key takeaways
- Only one of the two can margin-call you. If the crypto is sold and documented as dollars before closing, the price afterwards is irrelevant to the loan. If it is pledged, it is live collateral for the whole term.
- The conforming rule still requires conversion. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide section B3-4.1-04, dated 05/04/2022 and present in the guide published on 2 September 2026, accepts virtual currency only once it has been exchanged into US dollars and verified in dollars before closing.
- It also bars crypto for earnest money. The same section says virtual currency may not be used for the deposit on the sales contract.
- The FHFA order of 25 June 2025 asked for a proposal, not a rule change. It directed the two enterprises to prepare one for considering crypto as an asset for reserves without conversion to US dollars, subject to conditions.
- The pledged-collateral market is small and specific. Milo publishes a crypto-backed mortgage and a self-custody mortgage with different mechanics; Better and Coinbase announced a token-backed structure in March 2026.
General information, not advice, and not a mortgage service. This guide is editorial. Crypto Loans HQ does not originate, broker or arrange mortgages, and nothing here is an offer, a solicitation or a recommendation to take any mortgage or to use any named provider. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Providers are named only to describe what they published, as read in September 2026. Terms are set only by the lender. How we are paid.
The two things people mean
Searches for a bitcoin mortgage land on consumer mortgage lenders, and the products behind them are not the same transaction. The difference is not marketing. It decides whether a fall in the bitcoin price can cost you the coins while you still owe the money.
| Feature | Crypto as the source of funds or reserves | Crypto pledged as collateral |
|---|---|---|
| What secures the loan | The home alone | The home and the pledged crypto |
| Where the crypto ends up | Sold, with the dollars documented before closing | Moved to a custodian named in the loan documents |
| Price risk after closing | None to the loan; you no longer hold the asset | Live for the term: a fall can trigger a call |
| Tax on the way in | The sale is a disposal, generally a taxable event | Pledging is not usually a sale, but a liquidation is |
| Where the rules come from | The enterprise selling guides for conforming loans | The lender's own documents, outside the conforming box |
| Published example | Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-4.1-04 | Milo's crypto-backed mortgage; the Better and Coinbase structure |
| From the sources listed below, read in September 2026. General information, not advice; tax treatment depends on where you are taxed and on the loan terms. | ||
What the rules say today
On 25 June 2025 the Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare a proposal for considering cryptocurrency as an asset for reserves in their single-family mortgage loan risk assessment, without conversion of that cryptocurrency to US dollars. Law-firm notes reporting the order describe its conditions: the crypto must be evidenced and stored on a US regulated centralized exchange subject to applicable law, the enterprises must add risk mitigants for volatility, and they must set risk-based limits on the share of reserves held in crypto. A Senate Banking Committee minority release of 25 July 2025 quotes the order requiring each enterprise to take its proposal to its board of directors first.
That is a direction to write a proposal. It is not a change to the rules a loan officer applies, and the live guide shows the gap.
Section B3-4.1-04 of Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, titled Virtual Currency and dated 05/04/2022, is still in the guide published on 2 September 2026. It accepts virtual currency for down payment, closing costs and financial reserves only if “there is documented evidence that the virtual currency has been exchanged into U.S. dollars and is held in a U.S. or state regulated financial institution” and “the funds are verified in U.S. dollars prior to the loan closing”. It adds that virtual currency “may not be used for the deposit on the sales contract (earnest money) for the purchase of the subject property”, and that a large deposit sourced from converted crypto needs documentation tracing it back to the borrower's account.
So, as of September 2026, the unconverted-reserves treatment the order asked for has not reached that section of the live guide. Anyone told otherwise should be asked which guide section says so.
What we could not verify
The FHFA order itself is not published where we could find it: it is not on the agency's orders page or in its news releases, and guessed document paths returned nothing. Every description of its wording here comes from law-firm notes and the Senate release, so treat the quoted conditions as reported rather than read. We also could not read Freddie Mac's current guide text, which renders by script, so this page states nothing about Freddie Mac's position today.
How the providers describe their products
Three structures are published in enough detail to compare. Naming a firm here is a description of what it publishes, dated, and implies no relationship with Crypto Loans HQ (see how we are paid). It is not a recommendation and this page takes no mortgage enquiries.
| Structure | What the crypto does | Custody and pledge | Price-driven margin calls | Terms published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conforming loan, converted funds (Fannie Mae Selling Guide) | Funds the down payment, closing costs or reserves, in dollars | Nothing pledged; the crypto is sold beforehand | None: no crypto is held against the loan | Conversion documented and verified in US dollars before closing; no earnest money |
| Better and Coinbase token-backed mortgage (announced 26 March 2026) | Secures a separate, privately financed loan that funds the down payment, under a first-lien conforming mortgage | Pledged BTC or USDC, custodied by Coinbase | Reported as none on the pledged tokens, which are reported at risk only after a 60-day mortgage delinquency | First-lien loan reported as Fannie Mae-eligible; other terms not verified |
| Milo crypto-backed mortgage | Is the collateral, alongside the property | Pledge of one times the property value in bitcoin or ether, custodied with Coinbase and BitGo | Yes: its FAQ says a call is generally issued once the collateral value drops by about 69% from its original level | Up to 100% financing, 30-year fixed, from US$275,000 |
| Milo self-custody mortgage | Counts as reserves without leaving the borrower's own custody | Nothing pledged or moved to a third-party custodian | None: there is no collateral for the lender to call | LTV up to 75%, 30-year fixed interest only, from US$200,000, fiat down payment required |
| Sources: Fannie Mae's Selling Guide; Milo's own product and FAQ pages; press reports of the Better and Coinbase announcement, whose release we could not read. Milo Credit, LLC states that it is a direct lender licensed under NMLS #1811449, not available in all states. Terms are set only by the lender. | ||||
The self-custody row is the interesting one, because it separates the two meanings cleanly. The crypto is counted as strength on the file, the home is the only security, and the borrower brings a fiat down payment. Nothing is pledged, so nothing can be called; the trade-off is that the borrower funds the deposit in cash.
Risk
Risks specific to a pledged-crypto mortgage
- Margin calls on a 30-year exposure. A pledged mortgage keeps collateral at risk for a term far longer than the 12-month loans most crypto lenders write. Milo publishes its call trigger and says liquidation happens at the threshold set in the loan documents, so the documents, not the marketing, hold the number.
- Forced liquidation hits twice. Selling pledged coins to cure a call realizes the position at a bad price, and the home is still mortgaged afterwards. A default on the mortgage itself remains a foreclosure risk on the property.
- Custody and counterparty. The collateral sits with a named custodian under documents that decide whether it may be re-used. Read the same clauses you would read on any crypto-backed loan, covered in bitcoin loan rehypothecation and custody.
- Tax on a liquidation. Pledging is not usually a sale, but a liquidation is, and the tax falls in the year it happens while the proceeds go to the lender. See are crypto loans taxable.
- Availability and state rules. These are specialist products from a small number of lenders, not available in every state, and consumer mortgage rules apply on top of everything above.
Questions worth asking
If you are weighing one of these, the answers that matter are in the loan documents and the guide sections, not in a product page.
- Which of the two products is this: converted funds, or pledged collateral?
- If crypto is pledged, what is the call trigger, what cures it, how long is the cure window, and at what level is collateral sold?
- Who custodies the pledged crypto, is the account segregated, and may the collateral be re-used?
- Is the first-lien loan conforming, and if so which guide section the lender is relying on for the crypto?
- What happens to the pledged crypto if the mortgage falls into arrears, and after how long?
- What does a liquidation do to your tax position, and who pays that bill?
For many holders the simpler comparison is between a mortgage and a plain loan secured on the coins: the trade-off is set out in borrow against bitcoin instead of selling, the mechanics in bitcoin-backed loans and how do crypto loans work, and the call itself in bitcoin loan margin calls. Selling the coins to buy the house is an execution question, covered in sell bitcoin OTC.
Primary sources
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide, B3-4.1-04, Virtual Currency (section dated 05/04/2022; guide published 2 September 2026)
- US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (minority): release quoting the FHFA order (25 July 2025)
- Duane Morris: FHFA issues directive for Fannie and Freddie to consider cryptocurrency as an asset (26 June 2025), reporting the order of 25 June 2025
- Milo: crypto-backed mortgage, self-custody mortgage and FAQ (accessed September 2026)
- Reported, not read at source: HousingWire on the Better and Coinbase token-backed down payment and CoinDesk on the same announcement (26 March 2026)
Bitcoin mortgages: frequently asked questions
Can you buy a house with bitcoin?
In the conforming market the usual route is to sell the bitcoin and document the dollars. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide accepts virtual currency for down payment, closing costs and reserves only once it has been exchanged into US dollars, is held in a US or state regulated financial institution and is verified in dollars before closing. Outside that market, some lenders instead take pledged crypto as security.
Does Fannie Mae accept bitcoin as a down payment or reserves?
Only after conversion. Section B3-4.1-04 of the Selling Guide, dated 05/04/2022 and still in the guide published on 2 September 2026, requires documented evidence that the virtual currency was exchanged into US dollars and verified in dollars before the loan closes. It also states that virtual currency may not be used for the earnest money deposit on the sales contract.
What is a crypto-collateralized mortgage?
A mortgage secured on the home and on pledged crypto at the same time. Milo publishes one that takes bitcoin or ether, asks the borrower to pledge one times the property value, runs 30 years at a fixed rate, starts at US$275,000 and custodies the collateral with Coinbase and BitGo. Because crypto is pledged, the price can trigger a call.
Can a crypto mortgage be margin called?
Where crypto is pledged, yes. Milo's FAQ says a margin call is generally issued once the value of the collateral drops by about 69% from its original level, cured with more crypto or a principal payment, with liquidation at the threshold set in the loan documents. Where nothing is pledged there is no collateral to call, but the home still secures the loan.
Where to go next
This guide is editorial and takes no mortgage enquiries. Holders weighing a loan secured on bitcoin rather than on a house will find the mechanics and the published thresholds next door.