Coinbase and Better Mortgage have expanded access to a home loan that allows eligible US buyers to use Bitcoin as collateral for a down payment without selling their holdings.
The companies announced on August 26 that their token-backed conforming mortgage is now generally available to eligible Coinbase One members. The product combines a conventional mortgage with a separate loan secured by the borrower’s Bitcoin.
Under the arrangement, Better Mortgage originates and services the mortgage, while Coinbase provides the infrastructure that allows borrowers to pledge their crypto as collateral.
The first-lien mortgage is structured to meet Fannie Mae’s conforming guidelines, meaning the home loan itself follows the standards of a conventional conforming mortgage.
How the Bitcoin-backed mortgage works
The product uses two loans.
The first is the regular mortgage used to purchase the home. The second is a separate down-payment loan backed by the borrower’s Bitcoin.
To secure the down-payment loan, the borrower must pledge Bitcoin worth at least 250% of the loan amount. For example, a $100,000 down-payment loan would require $250,000 worth of Bitcoin as collateral.
The pledged Bitcoin is transferred into a custodial account on Coinbase Prime, where Better holds the collateral until the mortgage is fully repaid or refinanced.
Borrowers do not have to sell the Bitcoin to access the funds.
Coinbase also says normal changes in Bitcoin’s market price will not result in a margin call or change the mortgage terms. However, the collateral can be liquidated if the borrower becomes 60 days delinquent on loan payments.
Coinbase expands the offer
The latest announcement moves the product from an earlier rollout into general availability for eligible Coinbase One members.
The companies first opened a waitlist in June. According to Better and Coinbase, the waitlist represented more than $260 million in projected loan volume before the wider release.
The companies also said 76% of respondents were already Coinbase One members, while 60% said they planned to purchase a home within six months.
Eligible Coinbase One members approved for Better home-financing products can also receive a lender credit equal to 1% of the mortgage value, capped at $10,000. The credit can be applied to closing costs.
Bitcoin can remain invested
The main appeal of the product is that borrowers can access home financing without immediately converting their Bitcoin into dollars.
Selling BTC to fund a down payment could mean giving up future exposure to the asset and, depending on the borrower’s circumstances, could create tax consequences. The Coinbase-Better structure instead allows the Bitcoin to remain pledged as collateral while the borrower finances the home.
But the arrangement also comes with a significant requirement: borrowers need substantially more Bitcoin than the cash they receive for the down payment.
The collateral also remains locked under the loan terms until the mortgage is paid off or refinanced.
A new use for Bitcoin wealth
The expansion gives crypto holders another way to use their digital assets without selling them.
Coinbase and Better first announced the product in March 2026, describing it as a way for borrowers to use BTC or USDC to support home purchases. The current Coinbase help documentation specifically identifies Bitcoin as the collateral for the crypto-backed mortgage.
The product is currently available to US residents who meet Coinbase and Better’s eligibility requirements.
For Coinbase, the mortgage product takes Bitcoin beyond trading and investment and into a conventional financial transaction: buying a home.
For borrowers, the trade-off is straightforward. They can keep their Bitcoin exposure while accessing cash for a down payment, but they must pledge significantly more BTC than they borrow and keep that collateral locked under the mortgage arrangement.
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