Better Mortgage and Coinbase have officially launched their Bitcoin-backed mortgage product, allowing US homebuyers to pledge Bitcoin as collateral for down payments without selling their digital assets. The product combines a Fannie Mae-backed home loan with a separate down payment loan secured by Bitcoin, with Coinbase providing the infrastructure for cryptocurrency custody through Coinbase Prime. According to Coinbase's Help Center, borrowers must be US residents with a verified Coinbase account and remain subject to Better's credit, income and other underwriting requirements. The companies announced the rollout on August 26, opening the product after testing it with a limited group of borrowers. As per recent reports, borrowers across the US have gained access to this crypto-backed mortgage offering, with the product now officially open for applications across the US market.
Under the arrangement, borrowers must pledge Bitcoin worth at least 250% of the down payment loan. For example, someone purchasing a $500,000 home could pledge $250,000 worth of Bitcoin to support a $100,000 down payment. The mortgage and Bitcoin-backed down payment loan carry the same interest rate and amortization period and are combined into one monthly payment. The structure is designed to avoid automatic margin calls caused by falling Bitcoin prices - a decline in Bitcoin alone does not change the mortgage terms or force borrowers to provide additional collateral. Following approval by Better, the borrower authorizes the transfer of the required Bitcoin from a verified Coinbase account to Better's custodial account on Coinbase Prime. The pledged Bitcoin remains in Better's custodial account while the loans are outstanding, and is returned once the mortgage is fully repaid or refinanced, subject to the loan terms. The product initially allowed borrowers to pledge both Bitcoin and USDC before expanding to Bitcoin-only collateralization.
According to Coinbase's Help Center, Bitcoin price declines alone do not trigger margin calls or changes to the mortgage terms, providing stability for borrowers during market volatility. However, payment delinquency creates different risks - Better can liquidate the pledged Bitcoin if a borrower becomes 60 days delinquent on payments. Proceedings involving the home begin separately after 180 days, following Fannie Mae's rules. Borrowers remain responsible for repaying both the traditional mortgage and the separate Bitcoin-collateralized loan. The product represents a significant development in the crypto-backed mortgage sector, with Coinbase's involvement giving the sector a prominent crypto infrastructure provider as Bitcoin increasingly intersects with traditional financial services and real estate lending. Crypto-backed mortgages are not exactly novel, with Canadian lender Ledn announcing a Bitcoin-backed mortgage in December 2021 and Miami-based fintech Milo announcing its "first U.S. crypto mortgage" in January 2022.
Eligible Coinbase One customers can receive a lender-funded credit worth 1% of the mortgage amount, capped at $10,000, which can cover closing costs and other fees. This incentive could make the product more attractive to cryptocurrency investors looking to purchase property while retaining exposure to Bitcoin. The companies have extended the offer beyond Bitcoin-backed mortgages to Better's standard mortgages, home equity lines of credit and refinancing products, with eligible Coinbase One members able to apply since August 12. Early demand supplied one reason for moving beyond the controlled launch - 76% of people on the June waitlist were already Coinbase One members, while 60% planned to buy a home within six months. Responses indicated more than $260 million in projected loan volume before general availability. Currently, only Bitcoin is accepted for these mortgages, though Better plans to accept Ethereum and Solana in the future. The product turns Bitcoin into usable housing collateral without requiring an immediate sale, appealing to long-term BTC holders who want to avoid taxable events and preserve future exposure to BTC price gains.
The Better-Coinbase product comes amid broader efforts to incorporate digital assets into US mortgage underwriting. In June 2025, the Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop proposals to consider cryptocurrency held on US-regulated centralized exchanges as an asset in single-family mortgage risk assessments, with implementation targeted by June 2025. The directive also required the government-sponsored enterprises to consider risk-mitigation measures for crypto's volatility and submit any proposed changes to their boards for approval before FHFA review. Other US lenders have moved in this direction, with mortgage lender and servicer Newrez announcing in January 2026 that it would begin considering certain cryptocurrency holdings when reviewing mortgage applications in February 2026, including for home purchases and refinancing. The expansion of Bitcoin-backed home financing comes as US housing prices remain near historic highs, with the median sales price of a new US home about $400,000 in 2026 according to US Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development data compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Better also noted that high borrowing costs, expensive homes, and limited inventory pushed the median age of a first-time US buyer to 40 in 2025.
