Bitcoin-backed mortgages debut in Australia amid housing crisis

As home prices in Australia continue to outpace incomes, a company is rolling out a Bitcoin-backed mortgage, offering crypto holders a new way to access the property market without selling their assets.

On Wednesday, Block Earner launched the country’s first Bitcoin-backed home loan after fighting with regulators in court for over two years. The product was made possible by an April Federal Court ruling that found that Block Earner’s crypto lending products did not qualify as “financial products” under the Corporations Act.

The decision cleared the company from needing a financial services license in order to offer Bitcoin as collateral in home loans.

Through the product, borrowers’ collateral tokens are secured by custody platform Fireblocks. The Bitcoin is used to secure a cash loan for up to 50% of the property’s value, with a standard mortgage complementing the financing.

Besides opening new opportunities for Bitcoin holders, the model introduces a new creditworthiness approach besides traditional loan approval, which usually focus on salary, cash and superannuation (Australia’s mandatory retirement program).

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Bitcoin-backed loan development in the US

Australia isn’t the only country experimenting with Bitcoin and crypto-backed mortgages. In the US, institutions are also moving to enable crypto-backed financing for home loans.

On June 25, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to explore ways to count crypto holdings on regulated centralized exchanges as reserve assets to underwrite mortgages.

In a letter, he told both government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to consider crypto as a reserve asset in mortgage risk assessments.

On Monday, a new bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives seeking to require mortgage agencies to update guidelines, recognizing cryptocurrency holdings on regulated exchanges as part of a borrower’s financial profile. 

If passed, the bill would allow crypto to count toward mortgage eligibility without requiring conversion to dollars, expanding access to home loans for digital asset holders.

Australia and the US face deepening housing crises

Australia and the United States, two countries facing housing a housing crisis, are leading developments in crypto-backed home lending.

Australia has become notorious as one of the least affordable housing markets in the world. Home prices around the country average nearly 10 times the typical household income. In Sydney, homes cost nearly 14 times the median income, second only to Hong Kong. 

Source: Demographia International Housing Affordability 2024 edition

In the US, median home prices reached over $420,000 in 2024–2025, roughly seven times the median household income. The situation has led to dire consequences for the population, with US homelessness surpassing record levels in recent years.

According to a report from the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were over 653,000 unhoused people recorded in a single night in January 2023, the highest since the US started tracking the numbers in 2007.

But while soaring home prices have made homeownership increasingly out of reach for many citizens of both countries, prices have declined relative to Bitcoin — the cryptocurrency is up nearly 87% over the past twelve months.

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