The U.S. housing regulator directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider cryptocurrency as an asset for single-family mortgage loan risk assessments.
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte said in a social media post on Wednesday that he ordered government-sponsored enterprises, which play a critical role in the home financing industry, to "prepare their businesses to count cryptocurrency as an asset for a mortgage."
Pulte said the move aligns with "President Trump’s vision to make the United States the crypto capital of the world."
The FHFA provides supervision, regulation and housing mission oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy and sell mortgages, since the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008.
Both housing giants were placed in conservatorship after the substantial deterioration in the housing markets severely damaged their financial condition, creating the need for government intervention. Ever since, FHFA has been assessing their financial safety and soundness and overall risk management practices on an annual basis.
A for sale sign in front of a home in Arlington, Virginia, on August 22, 2023. Sales of homes in the United States ticked down in July, according to industry data released on August 22, 2023, (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Today, both enterprises guarantee over half of the mortgages in the U.S.
Under Pulte's directive, each enterprise has to prepare a proposal for consideration of cryptocurrency as an asset for reserves in their respective single-family mortgage loan risk assessments, without converting it into U.S. dollars. Each enterprise is directed to consider only cryptocurrency assets that can be evidenced and stored on a U.S.-regulated centralized exchange, subject to all applicable laws, according to the directive.
Since his second term as President Donald Trump, who leveraged the currency to fund part of his re-election campaign, has been working to overhaul the nation's cryptocurrency policy.
Trump signed an executive order earlier this year to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile to make the country "a leader among nations in government digital asset strategy," the White House said.
A "for sale" sign is displayed outside of a home for sale on August 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
In May, the Trump Media and Technology Group announced a $2.5 billion deal with institutional investors to create a bitcoin treasury.
In the same month, Vice President JD Vance attended the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas and highlighted that the Trump administration is taking a more favorable approach to the emerging digital asset industry than its predecessors.
A "For Sale" sign on a house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (Joe Lamberti/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"I'm here today to say loud and clear: with President Trump, crypto finally has a champion and an ally in the White House. And our administration, we understand the full potential of the digital assets industry, not just as an investment, not just as a flashy technology, but as a symbol and driver of personal liberty for all our citizens," the vice president said.
Reuters and FOX Business' Eric Revell contributed to this report.