Fannie, Freddie consider crypto mortgages

Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said on June 25, 2025 that he had ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare proposals on counting cryptocurrency in single-family mortgage risk assessments. The order, first reported at the time by Reuters, directed the two mortgage giants to consider crypto as an asset for reserves without requiring conversion to U.S. dollars before the risk review. No new public policy rollout from either company appeared on Thursday, May 21, 2026, despite fresh social-media posts recirculating the move. The current public record points to a regulator directive and existing underwriting guides, not a newly announced mortgage product. ### What exactly did the regulator tell Fannie and Freddie to do? The FHFA oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-controlled companies that back a large share of U.S. home loans. Reuters reported on June 25, 2025 that Pulte ordered both companies to consider cryptocurrency as an asset for single-family mortgage loan risk assessments. Mortgage Professional America, citing Pulte, reported that he told the companies to begin preparations to count cryptocurrency in mortgage applications. The FHFA’s role matters because the agency is the regulator and conservator for both enterprises. FHFA says it is responsible for supervision, regulation and housing mission oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Orders issued by FHFA are legally binding actions directed at regulated entities, according to the agency’s orders page. ### Is this already how mortgage underwriting works today? Fannie Mae’s published selling guide says “virtual currency” can be used in the asset assessment process only after it has been exchanged into U.S. dollars. (tech.yahoo.com) The guide page, last reflected in the public version dated May 4, 2022 and still available in Fannie Mae’s materials, describes cryptocurrency as eligible only once converted and documented under the company’s asset rules. (fhfa.gov) Freddie Mac’s guide also contains a cryptocurrency section. Section 5501.3 says cryptocurrency can be a borrower personal fund source and sets documentation requirements for funds used to qualify the borrower, including reserves. That means crypto is not absent from current guides, but its treatment is governed by detailed eligibility and documentation rules rather than a broad public statement that all crypto holdings now count automatically. (selling-guide.fanniemae.com) ### Why are people talking about this again now? Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, referred in an X post to “Fannie & Freddie considering crypto as mortgage asset” as part of a broader list of crypto policy developments. The post did not cite a new approval date, new enterprise bulletin or new FHFA order issued on Thursday. The underlying development matches the June 2025 directive that has circulated in industry coverage for months. (guide.freddiemac.com) Thursday’s discussion appears to be a resurfacing of that earlier action rather than confirmation of a fresh rule change. No official Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac page surfaced in this review showing a new May 21, 2026 announcement changing borrower eligibility standards for crypto-held reserves. ### Does this mean borrowers can now qualify for a mortgage with Bitcoin alone? (tech.yahoo.com) Fannie Mae’s current guide language says virtual currency must be exchanged into U.S. dollars before it can be treated as an asset in the assessment process. Freddie Mac’s guide says cryptocurrency is subject to documentation and eligibility requirements when used as borrower personal funds. Those published rules indicate that any broader shift to count crypto directly, without conversion, would require enterprise guidance or an FHFA-approved framework beyond the older public handbook language. (selling-guide.fanniemae.com) Reuters reported in 2025 that the FHFA order could open the door to borrowers using crypto investments to qualify for home loans. That was the reported direction of travel, but the order itself was a request for proposals and preparation, not a fully detailed consumer-facing policy launch. ### What should readers watch next? Freddie Mac’s public bulletins page and Fannie Mae’s selling guide updates are the places where underwriting changes are typically published. (selling-guide.fanniemae.com) FHFA’s orders and supervision pages would also show any additional formal action involving the two enterprises. As of Thursday, May 21, 2026, the next visible milestone remains any enterprise proposal to FHFA or any guide update from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac spelling out how cryptocurrency reserves would be counted in practice. (tech.yahoo.com) (mf.freddiemac.com)