Congress mandates mortgage lenders count crypto as collateral
H.R. 4374 — American Homeowner Crypto Modernization Act of 2025 · Filed by Nancy Mace (R-SC) · Introduced Jul 14, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires four federal agencies (HUD, USDA, VA, and FHFA) to update their mortgage underwriting systems within 24 months to allow lenders to count cryptocurrency holdings as an asset when evaluating a borrower's creditworthiness. A borrower with $50,000 in Bitcoin or other digital assets in a brokerage account could now have that counted toward their down payment or debt-to-income ratio, potentially making it easier to qualify for a mortgage.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to expand the definition of countable assets in federal mortgage underwriting by mandating inclusion of cryptocurrency holdings. It is neither a restriction nor a deregulation—it is a directive to federal agencies to modify their systems to treat digital assets as legitimate mortgage collateral.
What the text implies
- Lenders may face pressure to approve mortgages backed by volatile assets, creating moral hazard: a borrower's $100k crypto position could collapse to $30k post-closing, leaving them underwater and the lender exposed.
- The bill does not require lenders to ACCEPT crypto as collateral—only to CONSIDER it. This creates ambiguity: agencies must update systems, but lenders retain discretion, potentially leading to inconsistent treatment and litigation over what 'consider' means.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians (increased demand for brokerage accounts as mortgage collate; mortgage lenders (expanded pool of borrowers who can qualify); cryptocurrency holders seeking mortgages