New York — companies Better Home & Finance Holding Company and Coinbase announced a new partnership aimed at expanding access to mortgages for Americans who own digital assets.
According to the announcement, clients will be able to use $BTC bitcoin or $USDC as collateral to cover the down payment for housing — without the need to sell their crypto assets.
Mortgage loans will be provided and serviced by Better, and they will also meet Fannie Mae standards, making them full-fledged traditional mortgages. In turn, Coinbase will be responsible for the storage and provision of cryptocurrency collateral.
According to Better's CEO Vishal Garg, the company aims to make home ownership more accessible, and the new partnership opens up additional opportunities for approximately 52 million Americans who already own digital assets.
The new product is aimed at those who have cryptocurrency but do not want to sell it or do not have enough cash for a down payment. In this case, crypto assets effectively replace the cash contribution, allowing clients to retain their investments.
Market estimates suggest that about 20% of the adult U.S. population already owns cryptocurrency. It is especially popular among younger investors.
Importantly, such a mortgage does not involve margin calls in the event of a decline in the value of Bitcoin. Liquidation of the collateral is only possible in the case of payment defaults exceeding 60 days. Meanwhile, #USDC , which is used as collateral, can generate additional income that partially offsets the costs of the loan.
In the future, companies plan to expand the list of assets that can be used as collateral — specifically to include tokenized stocks, bonds, and real estate.
Additionally, Coinbase One service clients will be able to receive a discount of up to 1% of the mortgage amount (but not more than $10,000) on expenses related to the transaction.
At the same time, analysts note that shares #Better remain quite volatile, and the financial condition of the company is assessed as weak, despite significant price fluctuations over the past year.