The Director of the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has ordered that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac consider the cryptocurrency assets of borrowers for the purposes of collateral on single home mortgage loans. The two government sponsored enterprises buy mortgages from lenders and repackage them in mortgage backed securities that carry a government guarantee.
In the order posted on social media, FHFA Director William J. Pulte said that the enterprises should consider valuation adjustments to account for crypto volatility and other risks, and also take account of the proportion crypto makes of total reserves. Only crypto held at US regulated centralized exchanges will be counted. He expects to receive proposals from the two enterprises.
Pulte said the move was “in keeping with President Trump’s vision to make the United States the crypto capital of the world.” However, the directive raises questions about potential conflicts of interest. The Associated Press reported that Pulte’s spouse owns $500,000 to $1 million of bitcoin and a similar amount of Solana’s SOL token. Given the current sluggishness of the housing market in the face of rising interest rates, this could give it a small boost.
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