The Federal Housing Finance Agency just told the two largest mortgage backstops in America to figure out how crypto fits into home lending. FHFA Director William J. Pulte issued Decision No. 2025-360 on June 25, directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare proposals that would recognize verified cryptocurrency holdings as legitimate assets in mortgage reserve assessments.

In English: if you hold Bitcoin or other crypto on a regulated US exchange, that wealth could soon count when a lender decides whether you qualify for a mortgage. No forced liquidation required.

What the directive actually says

The order is specific about guardrails. Crypto holdings eligible for consideration must be stored on US-regulated centralized exchanges, with Coinbase named as one example. The proposals Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac submit must include detailed plans for managing the obvious elephant in the room: volatility.

Risk mitigants spelled out in the directive include market volatility adjustments and caps on the percentage of reserves that can come from digital assets. The directive also requires verification processes for confirming crypto ownership and balances, along with specifics on what approvals would be needed before any of this goes live across the government-sponsored enterprises.

This aligns with the broader Trump administration push to position the US as what officials have called the “crypto capital of the world.”

Early implementation and the first product

Fannie Mae didn’t wait for final guidelines to start experimenting. By March 2026, the agency launched a product in collaboration with Better Home & Finance and Coinbase that lets borrowers use Bitcoin or USDC as collateral in a dual-loan structure.

Borrowers get to keep their crypto positions. Instead of selling their Bitcoin at whatever the market price happens to be on the day they close, they pledge it as collateral alongside their traditional mortgage. These loans carry higher interest rates than conventional mortgages and come with specific custody arrangements designed to handle what happens if a borrower falls behind on payments.

This marks the first Fannie Mae-eligible crypto-collateralized mortgage product. As of June 2026, no final FHFA-approved guidelines exist for broad implementation across both GSEs.

Congressional scrutiny and market implications

Washington is paying attention, and not entirely in a supportive way. The Senate Banking Committee has launched inquiries focused on the risks and implementation strategies behind crypto-backed lending through the GSEs.

For crypto holders, the practical impact could be significant. Currently, someone sitting on substantial Bitcoin holdings who wants to buy a home faces an awkward choice: sell the crypto, triggering capital gains taxes and giving up future upside, or find alternative financing. This directive creates a third path where crypto wealth counts without requiring conversion to dollars.