Better Mortgage and Coinbase moved their Bitcoin-collateralized mortgage to general availability on Wednesday. The product is now open to Coinbase One members across the United States. (Cointelegraph)
The pitch rests on a specific gap. Better said 41% of its pre-approved customers qualify on income and credit but lack sufficient cash for a traditional down payment. The company has funded more than $110 billion in loans to date. (The Block)
The product pairs a Fannie Mae-backed conforming home loan with a separate down-payment loan secured by Bitcoin. Borrowers pledge bitcoin (BTC) rather than sell it. It has been available to Coinbase One members since August 12, the companies said. The formal announcement came August 26. (The Block)
In practice, a borrower who holds BTC but lacks cash for a down payment can post the crypto as collateral. Keep their position. Still close on a home. The pledged BTC must be worth at least 250% of the down-payment loan. It moves to Better’s custodial account on Coinbase Prime, per Coinbase’s Help Center. (Cointelegraph)
The two loans carry the same interest rate and amortization term. One monthly payment. Pledged BTC is returned once the mortgage is fully repaid or refinanced, subject to loan terms.
Bitcoin price drops alone do not trigger margin calls. They do not alter mortgage terms. Better can liquidate the pledged BTC if a borrower falls 60 days delinquent on payments, Coinbase said.
Borrowers must be US residents with a verified Coinbase account. They remain subject to Better’s credit, income, and underwriting requirements. Coinbase One members get a 1% lender credit toward closing costs and fees, capped at $10,000. That credit also applies to standard mortgages, HELOCs, and refinances. (The Block)
The companies first announced the token-backed mortgage in March through an early-access program. A waitlist opened in June. It drew projected loan volume of more than $260 million before general availability. Of respondents, 76% were already Coinbase One members. Sixty percent planned to buy a home within six months. (The Block)
“The partnership has always been about expanding access to homeownership by meeting borrowers where they are,” Ziggy Jonsson, CTO at Better Mortgage, said in a statement. “By allowing Coinbase One members to pledge crypto as collateral without selling their holdings, we’re opening a new path toward homeownership for a generation of borrowers whose wealth increasingly lives onchain.” (The Block)
The median sales price of a new US home sat near $400,000 in 2026, per US Census Bureau and HUD data compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. For a buyer putting down 20%, that is roughly $80,000 in cash. Or the equivalent in posted BTC. (Cointelegraph)
The product lands in a shifting policy environment. In June 2025, the Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop proposals. The goal: consider cryptocurrency held on US-regulated centralized exchanges as an asset in single-family mortgage risk assessments, without requiring conversion to US dollars. The directive required Fannie and Freddie to weigh risk-mitigation measures for crypto’s volatility and submit proposed changes to their boards before FHFA review. (Cointelegraph)
Newrez announced in January it would recognize certain cryptocurrency holdings when evaluating mortgage applications. That began in February. It covers home purchases and refinancing. (Cointelegraph)
What the announcement does not cover: interest rate pricing relative to a standard Better mortgage. Loan size limits. The exact state footprint beyond the initial pilot. Better and Coinbase framed the expansion as nationwide. Neither specified whether availability is constrained by state-level lending rules. Holders, as ever, are divided.
