WASHINGTON–Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has introduced legislation that would put into law an order from a U.S. housing agency directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to evaluate cryptocurrency as an asset for mortgages.
As the CU Daily reported earlier, FHFA Director William Pulte has instructed the two secondary mortgage giants to allow crypto holdings to be considered as assets by mortgage applicants at lenders. Pulte ordered the GSEs to prepare a “proposal for consideration of cryptocurrency as an asset for reserves in their respective single-family mortgage loan risk assessments.”
Lummis said her legislation, the 21st Century Mortgage Act, aims to help people build wealth.
‘Innovative Path’
“This legislation embraces an innovative path to wealth-building keeping in mind the growing number of young Americans who possess digital assets,” Lummis said in a statement. “We’re living in a digital age, and rather than punishing innovation, government agencies must evolve to meet the needs of a modern, forward-thinking generation.”
Specifically, Lummis said her bill would require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to include crypto “recorded on a cryptographically-secured distributed ledger” for assessing mortgage risk for single-family home loans. T
he legislation also prohibits the forced conversion of cryptocurrency holdings into U.S. dollars.
Democratic Pushback
However, as the CU Daily has also reported, Pulte’s proposal has led to pushback from a group of Democratic lawmakers who say they are concerned about the volatility of digital assets and who warned that incorporating cryptocurrencies into mortgage underwriting could be risky for the broader financial system.
