Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Approve Crypto Mortgage Assets – A New Era Begins

On June 25, 2025, something big happened in the world of housing and crypto. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) told Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two major players in the Crypto Mortgage world to start treating cryptocurrency as a real asset when people apply for home loans. This move could open the door to something new, “crypto mortgages.” In simple terms, it means that your Bitcoin or Ethereum might now help you qualify for a house! It’s a major shift that could make buying a home easier for crypto holders and might even give the slow housing market a boost. Let’s break down what this means, why it matters, and how people are reacting to this bold new step in blending digital money with real estate.

Policy Details and Context

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), led by Director William Pulte, recently made an important announcement. They’ve asked Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to come up with plans that let people use their cryptocurrency holdings when applying for home loans. This means you might be able to use your crypto assets as part of your savings for a mortgage without having to turn them into cash first. There’s a key rule though: the crypto must be kept on U.S.-regulated centralized exchanges and follow all the legal requirements, so everything stays above board and secure.

This change reflects how cryptocurrency is becoming more accepted as a real form of investment. In fact, a survey by the National Association of Realtors showed that about 1% of home down payments between mid-2023 and mid-2024 came from selling crypto. Since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back around half of the $12 trillion U.S. home loan market, this update could shake things up quite a bit. The housing market has been slow since early 2022, hitting its lowest home sales in nearly 30 years last year, and it stayed slow through 2024. As of April 2025, there were a lot more people selling homes than buying 34% more, according to Redfin showing the market really needs a boost.

William Pulte’s Stance and Personal Involvement

William Pulte, the director of the FHFA, has been pretty open about this new move.

He recently said, “We will study the usage of cryptocurrency holdings as it relates to qualifying for mortgages.”

What makes this even more interesting is that Pulte himself owns quite a bit of crypto between $500,000 and $1 million worth of Bitcoin and Solana’s SOL token as of January 2025. He’s clearly invested in making crypto a part of the mortgage process. Pulte also made it clear that people won’t have to convert their crypto into U.S. dollars for mortgage assessments. This approach could help more borrowers qualify for home loans and open the door for more people to become homeowners.

Potential Impacts on the Housing Market

The arrival of crypto mortgages could give the housing market a much-needed boost by letting more people use their crypto assets to qualify for loans. This is really important right now because it’s hard to get loans. By using their cryptocurrency directly without converting it to U.S. dollars, it could be easier for people who own crypto to buy homes. This might help balance the current housing market, which has more sellers than buyers. However, since cryptocurrencies can change value a lot, there are some risks. We still don’t know how this will impact things like people missing mortgage payments or the overall stability of the housing market in the future.

Challenges and Future Outlook

Bringing crypto mortgages to life won’t be without its challenges. There’s a lot to figure out making sure everything follows the rules, handling the ups and downs of crypto prices, and helping both lenders and homebuyers understand what it all means. The FHFA’s rule that crypto has to be kept on regulated exchanges is a good first step to keep things safer, but how the market reacts will really matter. As the plans take shape, it’ll be interesting to watch how lenders adjust and if this sparks new kinds of mortgage products maybe even more advanced crypto mortgage options.

Looking ahead, crypto mortgages might become popular with tech-savvy buyers and could help make the housing market more open and inclusive. But the key to success will be finding the right balance between embracing new ideas and keeping things stable. As this policy rolls out, it’ll be important to keep an eye on how it affects homeownership, the housing market, and how widely cryptocurrencies become accepted in traditional finance.

The FHFA’s new rule to include cryptocurrency in mortgage lending is a major change because it introduces digital money to traditional home buying. This could help more people buy homes and improve a slow housing market. William Pulte, who supports this change and has his own crypto investments, shows that this idea has strong backing. This could be the beginning of a new trend where crypto mortgages change the way people buy homes and bring new ideas to the finance world.

FAQs

1. What are crypto mortgages?
   Crypto mortgages refer to mortgage loans where borrowers can use cryptocurrency holdings as assets for loan risk assessments, potentially without converting them to U.S. dollars.
2. Why are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac involved?
   The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which guarantee about half of the $12 trillion U.S. mortgage market, to consider crypto assets to expand borrower eligibility.
3. When was this policy announced?
   The FHFA issued this directive on June 25, 2025, marking a significant step toward integrating cryptocurrencies into housing finance.
4. Who supports this change?
   FHFA Director William Pulte, who holds significant crypto assets, supports this move, stating it will help study cryptocurrency’s role in mortgage qualifications.
5. How could crypto mortgages impact the housing market?
   They could increase homebuyer eligibility, stimulate a sluggish market with low home sales, and balance the current seller-heavy market, though risks like crypto volatility remain.