Cryptocurrency is becoming more prevalent in the marketplace, and more people are hoping to use it as proof of an established asset they own to be used for down payment, closing costs or reserves. However, at present, lenders and underwriters consider it unchartered water and are not comfortable with its volatility or lack of federal recognition. If you invest in digital currency and require it for your home purchase or refinance, make sure you address it with your mortgage professional ahead of time.

Some lenders may consider it after it has been converted to cash, but you would need to verify your ownership of the cryptocurrency and amount, and paper trail the conversion and liquidation, and deposit it into a U.S. bank account.

Other lenders would want it converted to cash and then seasoned (sitting in your liquid account) for 60 days before considering. And again, other lenders would want you to provide the following:

  • Two months statements from your personal account showing seasoned money prior to the purchase
  • Then document the subsequent purchase of that cryptocurrency along with statements from the cryptocurrency company to show that you continually owned it, along with the proof of sale and the transfer of the liquidated funds back into your checking/savings account

That said, it is lender and underwriter-dependent, and in general may only be considered in some cases.