The crypto-backed mortgage structure allows borrowers to transfer their digital assets to Coinbase as collateral without liquidating them. Mortgage terms remain unchanged even if crypto prices fluctuate, but the collateral can be liquidated if borrowers miss payments for more than 60 days, introducing a new risk layer tied to loan performance rather than market volatility.

Despite growing adoption of digital assets, their use in real estate remains limited. Data from the National Association of Realtors shows only 1% of homebuyers used crypto proceeds for down payments between mid-2024 and mid-2025, highlighting that this model introduces a new mechanism rather than expanding an already common practice.

shifting liquidation risk from price volatility to payment default is actually a pretty big structural change