Can I use Bitcoin to Buy a House?

The short answer: yes. But the real question is how to buy a house with Bitcoin—or Ethereum—without making costly mistakes. In 2025, crypto is no longer a fringe experiment. It’s part of mainstream wealth in Texas, Florida, California, Colorado, Illinois, and beyond. If you’re a crypto investor, you don’t have to sit on the sidelines while others build wealth through real estate. Homeownership doesn’t have to be out of reach just because you don’t have traditional income or assets. With the right strategy and crypto-backed mortgages, your Bitcoin can unlock homeownership.

What Are the General Steps to Buying a House with Bitcoin

Yes, you can buy a house with Bitcoin. But in most cases, you can’t simply send coins from your wallet to the seller’s wallet. Title companies, lenders, and regulators all want dollars at closing. That’s where smart mortgage planning comes in.

Unfortunately, buying a house with Bitcoin isn’t as simple as transferring 20 tokens over in exchange for a $2 million home. But you wouldn’t want it to be. You want to be able to leverage your assets to grow your net worth and that's where a crypto-backed mortgage plays a huge role in your homebuying journey.

Here’s how it really works step by step:

1. Initial Consultation: You meet with a mortgage broker like LendFriend. Instead of asking you to sell your crypto up front, we review your Bitcoin and Ethereum balances and map out how they can be used both as a down payment (if needed) and as qualifying assets.

2. Prequalification and Asset Verification: Unlike other lenders who demand that you liquidate your crypto to cash in the bank before issuing a preapproval or prequalification, we can issue a prequalification using your crypto balances as proof of assets. You don’t sell a single coin at this stage. Instead, we’ll verify your holdings by reviewing statements from a U.S.-based exchange (like Coinbase) where your Bitcoin or Ethereum is held. The assets must be in your name and seasoned for at least 90 days. This step is about documentation, not liquidation.

3. Asset Depletion Calculation: Instead of treating your coins as collateral, we treat them as liquid assets. A conservative discount is applied to protect against volatility, and the net figure is divided across a set term (often 60–84 months) to create qualifying income. For example, a $3 million Bitcoin wallet might count as $1.5 million in usable assets, which translates into $18,000/month in qualifying income. That income can support a seven-figure home loan—even if you don’t have a W‑2 paycheck. And here’s why this matters: when you pledge crypto as collateral, you’re exposed to margin calls. If the market drops 20–30% overnight, the lender can demand more collateral or liquidate your holdings at the worst possible time. Asset depletion avoids that trap. Instead of locking up coins, your Bitcoin and Ethereum remain liquid and in your control while still giving you the qualifying income you need.

4. Shopping for Homes: With your preapproval in hand, you can shop confidently within your approved price range. Sellers and agents take your offer seriously because you’ve demonstrated real purchasing power backed by your Bitcoin or Ethereum assets.

5. Contract Execution and Loan Approval: Once you’ve found the right property and executed a purchase contract, we finalize your loan approval. With your asset-depletion income calculation in place, we package your file and shop across our wholesale lending network. Because LendFriend is a broker, we’re able to secure lower rates than many direct lenders or fintech crypto platforms, ensuring your deal moves smoothly from contract to closing.

6. Closing and Funding: As closing approaches, you convert only what’s necessary from BTC/ETH to U.S. dollars to cover your down payment, closing costs, and any required reserves. Funds are wired to the title/escrow company in dollars (as required in Texas, Florida, Colorado, Illinois, and California). The rest of your crypto stays invested—no collateral is pledged and there’s no margin-call risk. We time conversions as late as permissible to preserve upside and, if you wish, coordinate the tax conversation with your CPA so any capital gains apply only to the amount actually sold.

Can You Buy Real Estate with Ethereum Too?

Yes. Ethereum works the same way as Bitcoin in LendFriend’s crypto-backed mortgage program. If your ETH wallet holds $1 million, it can count toward qualifying income under our asset-depletion model. Just like Bitcoin, you stay invested, keep your upside, and still qualify for a mortgage in states like Texas, Florida, Illinois, California, and Colorado.

Why Asset-Backed Crypto Mortgages Beat Collateralized Loans

For years, Bitcoin and Ethereum sat outside the boundaries of traditional finance—acknowledged as an asset class by alternative investors but ignored by banks. Now, the term crypto-backed mortgage is creating new pathways into homeownership. But here’s the catch: it doesn’t mean the same thing everywhere.

Some lenders still rely on collateralized structures, tying up your Bitcoin or Ethereum and charging punishing rates. These loans expose you to margin calls—if the market drops, you may be forced to liquidate coins at the worst possible time, putting both your investment and your home at risk.

LendFriend’s asset-backed crypto mortgage model avoids these pitfalls. Instead of pledging coins, we use asset depletion to convert your portfolio into qualifying income. That means your crypto stays liquid, under your control, and working for you while you buy real estate. At the same time, as a mortgage broker, we shop our wholesale network to secure lower rates—often in the 7% range versus 9% or more with collateralized crypto lenders. The difference is clear: safer structure, cheaper financing, and a smarter way to leverage digital assets.

Companies like RealOpen, Milo, Ledn and CryptoRealEstate offer crypto-collateralized loans—but they often charge higher interest rates (sometimes 9% or more) and add complexity. LendFriend, by contrast, uses wholesale lenders to deliver lower rates (often in the 7% range) and avoids risky collateralization. As mortgage brokers, Eric and Michael Bernstein have helped thousands of buyers close billions in home loans. They know the mortgage system inside and out—and they know how to make crypto work for it.

Can You Buy a House with Bitcoin in the U.S.?

Absolutely. In fact, LendFriend has already helped buyers in Texas, Florida, Colorado, Illinois, and California close homes using Bitcoin and Ethereum as qualifying assets. For example, we helped a client in Northbrook, Illinois buy a $2 million home with a $1.5 million crypto‑backed mortgage. Another buyer in Houston purchased an $800,000 house with a $600,000 crypto mortgage. And in Atherton, California, a client closed on a $6 million estate using a $4 million crypto mortgage. From a $2 million Los Angeles property to a Miami condo to a luxury estate along Chicago's North Shore like Highland Park, crypto investors are already turning digital wealth into real property.

Risks and Realities

Bitcoin is volatile, and regulators are still shaping crypto’s future. But LendFriend’s approach minimizes those risks. Unlike collateralized loans, there are no margin calls. Unlike all-cash deals, there’s no need to dump millions of dollars worth of bitcoins at once just to buy a house (triggering a massive tax event). Instead, your Bitcoin strengthens your mortgage file like any other asset.

Final Thoughts: Can I Buy a House with Bitcoin?

Yes, you can buy a house with Bitcoin—or Ethereum—today. And with LendFriend’s crypto-backed mortgage, you can do it without risky collateralization, without sacrificing upside, and without overpaying on interest. Your crypto is an asset. It deserves to work for you in real estate, just like it does in your investment portfolio.

Schedule a call with me today or get in touch with me by completing this quick form and I'll help you leverage your crypto wallet to buy a home today.