Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac ordered to consider crypto as an asset when buying mortgages
The head of the U.S. federal government agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wants the mortgage giants to consider accepting a homebuyer's cryptocurrency holdings in their criteria for buying mortgages from banks.
William Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie, ordered the agencies Wednesday to prepare a proposal for consideration of crypto as an asset for reserves when they assess risks in single-family home loans.
Pulte also instructed the agencies that their mortgage risk assessments should not require cryptocurrency assets to be converted to U.S. dollars. And only crypto assets that 'can be evidenced and stored on a U.S.-regulated centralized exchange subject to all applicable laws' are to be considered by the agencies in their proposal, Pulte wrote in a written order, effective immediately.
Pulte was sworn in as the head of FHFA in March. Public records show that as of January 2025, Pulte's spouse owned between US$500,000 and US$1 million of bitcoin and a similar amount of Solana's SOL token.
Banks seeking to make mortgages that qualify for purchase by Fannie and Freddie have not typically considered a borrower's crypto holdings until they were sold, or converted, to dollars.
The policy is meant to encourage banks to expand how they gauge borrowers' creditworthiness, in hopes that more aspiring homebuyers can qualify for a home loan. It also recognizes that cryptocurrencies have grown in popularity as an alternative to traditional investments, such as bonds and stocks.
The agencies have to come up with their proposals 'as soon as reasonably practical,' according to the order.
Fannie and Freddie, which have been under government control since the Great Recession, buy mortgages that meet their risk criteria from banks, which helps provide liquidity for the housing market. The two firms guarantee roughly half of the US$12 trillion U.S. home loan market and are a bedrock of the U.S. economy.
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Alex Veiga, The Associated Press
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