Ark Invest Chief Sees Major Gains for Crypto and Housing in New Mortgage Plan

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood says a new policy allowing crypto as mortgage collateral could transform homeownership for digital asset holders by removing a key barrier.

New Mortgage Policy Could Bridge Crypto and Real Estate Worlds

A proposed change in mortgage policy could open the door to homeownership for crypto-heavy investors. Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood stated on June 28 on social media platform X that William Pulte’s mortgage directive to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have significant, underappreciated consequences. Pulte is the director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Indicating the breadth of disruption this policy might bring to traditional lending systems, Wood opined:

Pulte’s directive could bolster both crypto and housing significantly. I do not believe that the ramifications of this move are well-understood.

The FHFA director ordered on June 25 that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac begin preparing to treat cryptocurrency as a viable asset in mortgage loan risk assessments. The directive requires both government-sponsored enterprises to draft proposals incorporating crypto held on U.S.-regulated centralized exchanges as part of borrower reserves, without requiring liquidation or conversion into U.S. dollars. The FHFA stated that this could lead to more accurate risk evaluations and broaden access to sustainable homeownership. It also emphasized risk mitigation measures including volatility discounts and board approvals. This marks a major regulatory shift, reflecting growing recognition that digital assets may represent an alternative form of wealth for borrowers traditionally underserved by legacy financial systems.

Still, members of the crypto community voiced objections to the directive’s requirement that assets be held on centralized exchanges. One critic noted that this condition runs counter to the decentralized principles that many bitcoin holders value: “This order counts only centralised holdings (completely against bitcoin/crypto ethos)… I would definitely not do this.”

Despite such concerns, Wood’s commentary frames the policy as a meaningful step toward financial inclusion for crypto-native investors. The Ark Invest CEO highlighted how the directive might solve a longstanding problem in mortgage qualification for digital asset holders. This framing suggests a new path for homebuyers who have historically been locked out of traditional financing due to non-traditional asset portfolios. Wood described:

Bitcoin hodlrs probably have a large percent of their net worth in crypto and therefore have not been able to qualify for a mortgage. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were to shift some of their bitcoin to Coinbase to serve as collateral for a once unattainable new home.