Second largest US mortgage lender will accept crypto payments this year

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the second-largest United States-based mortgage lender, is planning to accept cryptocurrency payments this year starting with Bitcoin (BTC).

UWM CEO Mat Ishbia revealed the crypto plans on Monday in a conference call regarding the firm’s Q2 results — with the firm posting $138.7 million in net profits for the quarter.

“We’re excited that hopefully (this year) we can actually execute on that before anyone in the country,” Ishbia said.

“We are evaluating the feasibility and requirements in order to accept cryptocurrency to satisfy mortgage payments.” – @Mishbia15

— United Wholesale Mortgage (@UWMlending) August 16, 2021

Speaking with the Detroit Free Press on Monday, Ishbia said that the move would likely happen later this quarter, or at the start of Q4, adding, “I think we’re starting with Bitcoin, but we’re looking at Ethereum and others.”

"We’re going to walk before we run, but at the same time, we are definitely a leader in technology and innovation and we are always trying to be the best and the leader in everything we do.”

“That’s the plan. Obliviously there’s no guarantees — we’re still working through some details,” the CEO added.

UWM was the second-largest mortgage lender in 2020, originating 560,798 loans worth almost $183 billion. Quicken Loans led the pack and originated $1.1 million loans worth $314 billion.

The use of crypto in real estate purchases has a history dating back seven years, with BitPay helping facilitate the sale of a Lake Tahoe property that sold for $1.6 million in BTC in 2014. However, crypto mortgage repayments appear to be a relatively new phenomenon.

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In April, Matrix Mortgage Global, a Toronto-based mortgage brokerage firm, announced that it was accepting BTC, Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and several stablecoins for its services via BitPay.

Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 4 that Spanish political party the People’s Party introduced a bill proposal that would enable property owners to pay mortgages with crypto and authorize the real estate sector to use its own cryptocurrency for mortgage purchases.