Ark: The First Step of Crypto Assets Entering the US Housing Market

Author: Nick Grous, Vice Portfolio Manager at Ark Invest; Translated by: AIMan@Golden Finance

Last week, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop proposals to treat cryptocurrency holdings (but only those held on U.S. regulated centralized exchanges) as assets in the risk assessment of single-family residential mortgages. The directive does not require the conversion of cryptocurrencies to U.S. dollars, nor does it include cryptocurrencies held in self-custody wallets. The directive also calls for risk control measures, such as considering the volatility of cryptocurrency markets and limiting the amount of cryptocurrency that can be counted as reserves.

This directive has built a new bridge between the $12 trillion U.S. mortgage market and blockchain-based capital and scale. If the Federal Housing Finance Agency finalizes this rule, setting a precedent for the broader application of mortgages and crypto assets, then blockchain-based balance sheets could significantly impact the mortgage market by simplifying underwriting processes, reducing transaction costs, and enabling token-linked mortgage instruments.

According to a 2025 Harris poll commissioned by CryptoSlate, 21% of American adults own digital assets. Among the approximately 55 million individuals with crypto assets, 6 million hold an average of over $100,000 in assets. Given the wealth individuals are accumulating on-chain, the impact of crypto assets on the credit market could become significant.

According to iEmergent's 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data, the number of mortgage loans issued in the United States last year was approximately 6 million, valued at $1.82 trillion, which means the average loan size was about $340,000. Based on this calculation, if only 5% of mortgage borrowers include crypto assets in their applications, then under this new framework, about 305,000 people would qualify for mortgage loans, thereby supporting a lending volume of $100 billion. For each percentage point increase in adoption, the mortgage amount would rise by approximately $20 billion.

Our approach is solely based on penetration rate × average transaction size, assuming that leverage multiples or transaction speeds remain unchanged; thus, the upside potential may be significantly enhanced. This regulatory development aligns with ARK's argument that cryptocurrencies will reshape the traditional financial system with greater transparency, automation, and interoperability.