The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has ordered the housing mortgage purchasing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider including cryptocurrency as an asset in the risk assessment of certain housing loans.
The FHFA Director William J. Pulte instructed the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) in a letter on Wednesday to "prepare a proposal to consider cryptocurrency as part of the reserve assets in their respective single-family mortgage risk assessments, without the need to convert the said cryptocurrency into U.S. dollars."
This order means that the two GSEs can take into account the cryptocurrency holdings of potential borrowers when they apply for a mortgage. Pulte stated that cryptocurrency is typically not considered in mortgage risk assessments unless it is first converted into U.S. dollars.
Since the 2008 financial crisis, the FHFA has overseen Fannie Mae (the Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation). At that time, the two institutions were placed under government conservatorship due to the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a key role in the U.S. housing market by providing liquidity and stability through the purchase of mortgages from lending institutions, enabling them to issue more loans.
Pulte stated on the social platform X that the decision to include cryptocurrency in mortgage risk assessments was made "after thorough research" and aligns with Donald Trump's goal of making the U.S. the "world's cryptocurrency capital."
In his letter, Pulte also noted that the two enterprises should only consider "cryptocurrencies that can be proven and stored on regulated centralized exchanges in the U.S. and comply with all applicable laws."
Recognizing cryptocurrency as collateral in the mortgage process reflects the trend of digital assets gradually gaining mainstream acceptance in the U.S.
According to previous reports from Cointelegraph, JPMorgan plans to allow some wealth management clients to use cryptocurrency-based products, such as Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as collateral for financing.
In another development, Circle's USDC stablecoin will become eligible collateral for futures trading starting next year through a joint initiative with Coinbase Derivatives and Virginia's clearinghouse Nodal Clear.
Although still a niche market, there is currently a cryptocurrency-backed mortgage market that allows cryptocurrency holders to use Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to finance real estate transactions.
Mauricio Di Bartolomeo, co-founder of the Bitcoin lending platform Ledn, told Cointelegraph that many Bitcoin holders have used their digital assets as collateral to purchase real estate without having to sell any of their holdings.
Related: U.S. housing agencies may allow crypto assets for mortgage qualification
Original article: “U.S. Regulators Require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Consider Cryptocurrency in Mortgage Risk Assessments”
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