TL;DR
- Newrez plans to recognize certain crypto assets in non-QM mortgage qualification starting February 2026, allowing borrowers to demonstrate financial strength without selling their holdings.
- The policy treats crypto as a verifiable asset, not income. This cautious, crypto-aware underwriting approach leaves core mortgage risk standards unchanged.
Newrez plans to begin recognizing certain crypto holdings as part of mortgage qualification, a notable shift in how the U.S. housing finance section treats digital assets. The change is expected to take effect in February 2026. It will apply only to Newrez’s non-agency lending channel, not to government-backed mortgage programs.
Importantly, the policy does not allow borrowers to pay for homes in Bitcoin or take out loans denominated in crypto. Instead, Newrez may consider eligible digital assets during qualification, allowing borrowers to demonstrate financial strength without needing to liquidate their holdings.
The move places Newrez among a growing group of financial institutions reassessing how crypto fits into traditional credit frameworks, as more borrowers accumulate digital-asset wealth outside conventional bank accounts.
How the policy works
According to reporting across mortgage and real-estate trade publications, Newrez will incorporate crypto holdings into its Smart Series products. These non-QM offerings target borrowers who fall outside standard agency guidelines.
The updated approach allows crypto assets to be considered in mortgage underwriting as part of the borrower’s overall risk profile rather than excluded outright. Assets typically cited as eligible include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and certain U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins, as well as spot crypto exchange-traded funds where applicable.
Eligibility, however, depends not only on the type of asset, but also on how it is held and verified. Crypto held with regulated custodians can be documented and valued. By contrast, a lender cannot assess self-custodied wallets and decentralized finance positions using the same verification standards. Hence, they are generally excluded.
Verification alone does not determine how the lender treats those assets in underwriting. Newrez has not positioned crypto as income or as a substitute for employment verification. Instead, the assets function similarly to volatile securities. Under this mortgage qualification approach, crypto assets support borrower assessment under conservative assumptions. They do not reshape the core structure of mortgage credit.
Why borrowers care
For crypto holders, the change addresses a long-standing friction point. Selling digital assets to qualify for a mortgage can trigger tax consequences. It can also force liquidation at unfavorable prices.
By allowing crypto assets to count toward qualification, Newrez offers a path to obtain a mortgage without selling crypto, while keeping traditional underwriting controls in place.
Mortgage professionals note that younger borrowers increasingly expect lenders to account for digital assets. They must account for savings patterns shifting away from traditional investment accounts.
Why this is happening now
In mid-2025, the Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to study how they could incorporate crypto assets into risk assessments for single-family mortgages. The review signaled that the agency would no longer dismiss digital assets outright at the policy level, without immediately altering its lending rules.
Private lenders picked up on that shift in sentiment. They are not bound by agency frameworks in the same way, and that flexibility matters in practice. Newrez’s non-QM crypto mortgage initiative reflects how private channels can adapt underwriting standards more quickly than government-backed programs.
>>> Read more: JPMorgan to Accept Bitcoin & Ether as Loan Collateral
What it signals for the industry
Private lenders continue to probe the boundaries of underwriting. In essence, Newrez’s updated policy establishes a crypto-aware mortgage framework within the non-QM segment, without altering the fundamentals of mortgage risk management. The approach offers an early glimpse of how digital wealth may integrate into traditional credit markets. Carefully, and on constrained terms.
