AI-Lender Better Launches Crypto Downpayment Loan

For the lucky (or prescient) people who stacked some Bitcoin back when the digital currency sold for a few dollars instead of tens of thousands, there aren’t a lot of direct benefits if you don’t cash out. Crypto doesn’t pay dividends, and not a lot of banks are excited to see your bitcoin as collateral on a loan application.

But AI-focused lender Better is hoping people with “diamond hands”—crypto investors who aim to hold the currency for the long-term—are also interested in buying a home, with a new “Token-Backed Mortgage Program” that substitutes a crypto loan for a down payment.

The product is available to anyone—though users of the popular crypto exchange Coinbase get a closing credit—and currently names only two types of digital crypto tokens (among thousands) as eligible for the program.

“By enabling borrowers to pledge their digital assets in the mortgage underwriting process, we are allowing crypto to be more useful and powerful in the real-world—expanding the pathways to homeownership while preserving long-term investment positions,” said Ben Shen, head of Financial Services & Loyalty products at Coinbase, in a statement.

How useful the product will be for mainstream consumers is unclear. Around 20% of Americans have traded in crypto at some point, with a slightly higher proportion of upper-income families saying they invested in digital currency. The companies are offering up to $10,000 as a rebate for borrowers who use the product.