Better Mortgage and Coinbase have moved their token-backed mortgage program into general availability, giving Better access to a digitally native borrower pool as the lender shifts more of its growth strategy toward outside distribution partners.
The bigger development for mortgage originators extends beyond cryptocurrency.
Better is offering Coinbase One members a lender credit equal to 1% of the mortgage amount, up to $10,000, and has expanded the incentive beyond its token-backed product to standard mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and refinances.
That effectively turns Coinbase from a technology provider for a specialized mortgage into a customer-acquisition channel for Better’s full home-financing menu.
The companies said the expanded offer became available Aug. 12. Better will originate and service the loans, provide the lender credit, and hold pledged cryptocurrency in a custodial account on Coinbase Prime. Coinbase supplies the connection through which borrowers transfer the assets used as collateral.
“This partnership has always been about expanding access to homeownership by meeting borrowers where they are,” said Ziggy Jonsson, chief technology officer at Better Mortgage. “In 2025, high interest rates, record home prices, and limited inventory pushed the median age of a first-time homebuyer to 40. Coinbase counts millions of monthly users worldwide, and by allowing Coinbase One members to pledge crypto as collateral without selling their holdings, we’re opening a new path toward homeownership for a generation of borrowers whose wealth increasingly lives onchain.”
Projected Demand, Not Funded Volume
Better and Coinbase said a waitlist opened in June generated more than $260 million in projected loan volume.
But that figure represents anticipated borrowing reported by prospective customers. It is not funded volume, locked volume, approved applications, or necessarily an active pipeline.
The companies said 76% of waitlist respondents were already Coinbase One members and 60% planned to buy a home within six months. They did not disclose the size of the waitlist, the number of completed applications, the number of loans approved, or how many borrowers have closed.
That leaves conversion as the central question as the program moves from the summer rollout announced in June into broader availability.
Better has said 41% of its preapproved customers qualify based on income and credit but lack sufficient cash for a traditional down payment. The token-backed structure is intended to address that obstacle for borrowers who hold substantial cryptocurrency but do not want to sell it.
“Our members already trust Coinbase for their financial lives. This extends that trust to one of the biggest financial decisions they’ll ever make,” said Ben Shen, head of financial services and loyalty products at Coinbase. “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.”
Two Loans, Not A Crypto-Backed First Mortgage
Despite the shorthand description, the first mortgage itself is not collateralized by cryptocurrency.
The product combines a standard first mortgage designed to conform to Fannie Mae guidelines with a separate loan that funds the down payment. The borrower’s cryptocurrency secures the down-payment loan, while the home also secures that loan through a second lien.
Coinbase’s current borrower instructions say both loans have the same interest rate and amortization term, allowing the borrower to make one combined monthly payment.
The instructions say borrowers must pledge Bitcoin worth at least 250% of the down-payment loan. A borrower seeking a $100,000 down-payment loan, for example, would need to pledge at least $250,000 in Bitcoin.
The pledged Bitcoin is transferred to a Better custodial account on Coinbase Prime and remains there until the financing is repaid or refinanced. Borrowers do not face margin calls solely because Bitcoin loses value, and market fluctuations do not change the loan terms. Better may liquidate the collateral, however, if the borrower becomes 60 days delinquent.
The structure adds leverage to the home purchase because the borrower is taking out a second loan rather than contributing a traditional cash down payment. It also keeps the pledged cryptocurrency inaccessible while the financing remains outstanding.
Better Puts More Growth Behind Partners
The rollout comes as Better attempts to reduce its dependence on direct-to-consumer mortgage demand and generate more business through consumer platforms, mortgage companies, and independent brokers.
Platform-generated loans reached $912 million in the second quarter, representing 55% of Better’s $1.67 billion in total funded volume. Overall production increased 38% from a year earlier, but the company still reported a $30.6 million net loss and a $14 million adjusted EBITDA loss.
Better’s transition to interim CEO Daniel Lewis also came with a sharper pivot toward partner-led distribution, additional cost reductions, and plans to expand its wholesale presence.
Lewis has identified enterprise and wholesale partnerships, operating automation, and HELOC growth as the company’s three immediate priorities. Better also expanded its relationship with Intuit Credit Karma in July, giving the consumer platform’s U.S. users access to HELOCs under the “Credit Karma Home Loans powered by Better” brand.
The Coinbase arrangement offers a direct version of that strategy: place Better’s products in front of an established membership base and use a borrower incentive to move those customers into its mortgage funnel.
