- Block Earner introduced Australia’s first Bitcoin-backed home loan, allowing borrowers to use Bitcoin as collateral without selling it.
- An Australian court ruling enabled the product by clarifying that such loans do not need a financial services license.
- Borrowers can secure a loan covering up to 50% of a property’s value by pledging Bitcoin, with digital assets held by Fireblocks as collateral.
- Similar steps are being considered in the United States, with proposals to let lenders count crypto holdings as mortgage reserves.
- Both Australia and the U.S. face high home prices compared to median incomes, pushing institutions to seek alternative ways to access property markets.
On July 17, Block Earner launched Australia’s first mortgage secured by Bitcoin, offering owners of the cryptocurrency a new way to buy homes without converting digital assets to cash. The launch follows a legal process that concluded with a court decision allowing crypto-backed loans outside the regular financial service licensing system.
The home loan product allows borrowers to use their Bitcoin as collateral for a cash loan. The platform stores Bitcoin with Fireblocks, a custody service. The arrangement lets borrowers finance up to 50% of the property’s value with the crypto-backed loan, while taking out a standard mortgage for the rest.
The Federal Court’s April decision found that Block Earner’s crypto lending did not fall under the definition of “financial products” according to the Corporations Act. This removed the licensing requirement for using Bitcoin in mortgage arrangements. The company says its process offers a new way to measure creditworthiness, as typical mortgage approvals focus on income, cash, and superannuation, which is Australia’s required retirement savings program.
The development follows related moves in the United States. On June 25, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency asked Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to examine ways to count regulated crypto exchange holdings as reserves in mortgage assessments. A bill submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives on July 15 proposes that lenders consider crypto assets held on regulated platforms for mortgage eligibility, without requiring conversion to dollars.
Housing affordability is a key concern in both countries. In Australia, average home prices are nearly 10 times higher than the median household income, while Sydney’s ratio reaches almost 14 times, according to a Demographia report. In the U.S., median home prices reached about $420,000 in 2024–2025, around seven times the median income, according to housing market data. A Department of Housing and Urban Development report counted over 653,000 people without homes in the U.S. in January 2023.
While real estate prices have continued to rise in both countries, the cost of property has decreased relative to Bitcoin values, with the cryptocurrency up nearly 87% in the past year.
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