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Injecting Crypto Into the Mortgage Market
James Baratta
In recent weeks, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director William Pulte has referred numerous political enemies of the president to the Justice Department for the alleged crime of mortgage fraud, claiming the falsification of documents and residence statuses. Pulte has taken significant criticism for facilitating President Trump’s revenge tour by taking highly irregular steps to pull applications on disfavored political figures, which in one case has led to Trump trying to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook.
At the same time, Pulte has announced changes in mortgage underwriting that could easily lead to confusion and error in assessing creditworthiness. If there’s more mortgage fraud in the future, Pulte could be to blame.
On June 25, FHFA ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which package and securitize loans for investors in the housing market, to develop proposals allowing them to “count cryptocurrency as an asset for a mortgage” during the application process. As a result, prospective homebuyers may soon be able to put up their volatile crypto holdings as collateral without needing to convert those assets to cash.
In a post on X, Pulte said the decision came after “significant studying,” but critics cast doubt on the impetus behind his order, noting that Pulte announced it on the heels of some online exchanges with members of the crypto community.
“It’s just unusual to me because it’s not consistent with my understanding of past policymaking practice at FHFA,” Amanda Fischer, policy director at Better Markets, told the Prospect. “It seemed to be based on some tweets.”
At the same time, Pulte has announced changes in mortgage underwriting that could easily lead to confusion and error in assessing creditworthiness. If there’s more mortgage fraud in the future, Pulte could be to blame.
On June 25, FHFA ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which package and securitize loans for investors in the housing market, to develop proposals allowing them to “count cryptocurrency as an asset for a mortgage” during the application process. As a result, prospective homebuyers may soon be able to put up their volatile crypto holdings as collateral without needing to convert those assets to cash.
In a post on X, Pulte said the decision came after “significant studying,” but critics cast doubt on the impetus behind his order, noting that Pulte announced it on the heels of some online exchanges with members of the crypto community.
“It’s just unusual to me because it’s not consistent with my understanding of past policymaking practice at FHFA,” Amanda Fischer, policy director at Better Markets, told the Prospect. “It seemed to be based on some tweets.”
https://prospect.org/economy/2025-08-28-injecting-crypto-into-mortgage-market/]