Better Home & Finance Holding Company (NASDAQ: BETR) and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) announced the completion of the first mortgage backed by bitcoin and eligible for Fannie Mae backing in the United States, according to a company statement.

The companies plan to make the product available to qualified borrowers nationwide by summer 2026. The mortgage product allows borrowers to pledge digital assets including bitcoin and USDC as collateral without liquidating their holdings.

The first loan closed for a married couple in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who used their bitcoin holdings as collateral to purchase their home. The borrowers avoided selling their digital assets and the associated capital gains taxes while securing the mortgage.

"The 30-year fixed mortgage was designed for a generation that kept its savings in a bank account and built equity through a single employer," said Vishal Garg, founder and CEO of Better. "That's not the financial reality of millions of qualified buyers today that are building real wealth in digital assets."

Better reported that 41% of its pre-approved customers qualify based on income and credit but lack cash for a traditional down payment. The National Association of Realtors data shows the median age of first-time homebuyers reached 40 years old, up from 32 a decade earlier.

The companies plan to expand support to additional digital assets as the market develops. Coinbase provides the custody, compliance and risk management infrastructure for the mortgage product.

"Tens of millions of Americans have built real wealth in digital assets," said Mark Troianovski, head of consumer and platform partnerships at Coinbase. "That wealth now has a direct path to homeownership."