The large American lender Newmarket Capital (assets under management — $3 billion) is launching a hybrid mortgage. Now Bitcoin can serve as additional collateral when purchasing real estate alongside the apartment or house itself.
This is not just issuing loans secured by crypto (crypto lending is already familiar). It's about a hybrid model: you take a mortgage in dollars, but your $BTC , along with the real estate asset, act as collateral for the deal. This is handled by the company's subsidiary — Battery Finance.
How does it work?
Imagine: you have bitcoins and want to buy commercial or residential real estate, but do not want to sell the coins (to avoid paying taxes and losing potential profit from the increase in value).
Under the new scheme, you put the real estate as the primary collateral and add, say, 20 BTC as additional security for the loan.
The first real case already exists: Battery Finance refinanced a multi-story residential building for $12.5 million, where both the building and about 20 bitcoins were used as collateral.
Why is this beneficial?
1. For the borrower (crypto holder):
· You don't need to sell BTC. You are preserving an asset and not creating a taxable event.
· Access to liquidity. You get funds to purchase a real asset (real estate) without parting with digital currency.
· Participation in growth. As noted by the CEO of the company, Andrew Hons, a loan secured by bitcoin allows the borrower to indirectly participate in future growth of the cryptocurrency's value, which is not present in traditional mortgages.
2. For the lender:
· Risk reduction. Bitcoin makes the loan package more transparent and liquid. In case of default, the bank has an additional highly liquid asset.
· A new pool of clients. This is a way to attract wealthy millennials and Gen Z, whose wealth is concentrated in crypto rather than bank accounts.
Important nuances and "pitfalls"
It sounds like a perfect world, but there are conditions that are important to know:
· Cryptocurrency is only part of the collateral. The foundation is still income-generating real estate. Bitcoin serves as a "safety cushion" and a tool to enhance the reliability of the deal.
· Payments only in fiat. You take out a loan and repay it in US dollars. Bitcoin simply "sits" as collateral but is not used for settlements.
· Only regulated custody. The most important point for holders: bitcoin must be stored on regulated exchanges or with custodial providers. Cryptocurrency on your cold wallet or in a personal non-custodial wallet (self-custody) is not suitable as collateral.
· This causes disputes in the community: on one hand, bitcoin is recognized, on the other — only on the condition that it is under government control.
What does this mean for the market?
This is a step towards the long-discussed trend — integration of real assets (RWA — Real World Assets) with digital finance.
It is noteworthy that back in mid-2025, US federal agencies (for example, FHFA) signaled that cryptocurrency could be considered for mortgages. But private companies, such as Newmarket Capital, are acting faster than government structures.
So far, this is not a solution to the housing affordability problem, but it is a powerful bridge between the world of digital scarcity (bitcoin) and the traditional capital system. Perhaps we are moving towards a moment when the "most reliable form of money" (bitcoin) will open access to the greatest capital flexibility — even despite current restrictions in the form of mandatory custodial storage.
