Coinbase and Better Take Bitcoin-Backed Mortgages Beyond the Waitlist

Coinbase and mortgage lender Better are expanding a pilot to offer bitcoin-backed mortgages beyond the initial waitlist, enabling eligible customers to use BTC as collateral for home loans while keeping their holdings on Coinbase. The offering preserves customers' Bitcoin exposure instead of forcing sales at closing, effectively turning BTC into usable collateral for traditional mortgage lending. If widely adopted, this could increase Bitcoin’s real-world utility and demand while reducing immediate sell pressure, but it also concentrates custodial counterparty risk and may attract greater regulatory scrutiny.