Sen. Lummis introduces bill requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider crypto as an asset for mortgages

Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis introduced a bill that would put into law an order from a U.S. housing agency directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to evaluate cryptocurrency as an asset for mortgages. 

The Wyoming Senator said her legislation, the 21st Century Mortgage Act, would help people build wealth, in a statement on Tuesday. 

"This legislation embraces an innovative path to wealth-building keeping in mind the growing number of young Americans who possess digital assets," Lummis said. "We’re living in a digital age, and rather than punishing innovation, government agencies must evolve to meet the needs of a modern, forward-thinking generation.”

Last month, U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte ordered both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to "prepare a proposal for consideration of cryptocurrency as an asset for reserves in their respective single-family mortgage loan risk assessments." Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created by Congress and are tasked with providing liquidity and stability to the mortgage market in part by buying mortgages from lenders. 

Lummis said her bill would require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to include crypto "recorded on a cryptographically-secured distributed ledger" for assessing mortgage risk for single-family home loans. The legislation also prohibits the forced conversion of cryptocurrency holdings into U.S. dollars. 

However, the proposal has sparked pushback from Democratic lawmakers concerned about the volatility of digital assets. In a letter to Director Pulte last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, other Democrats and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders warned that incorporating cryptocurrencies into mortgage underwriting could be risky for the broader financial system. 

"Expanding underwriting criteria to include the consideration of unconverted cryptocurrency assets could pose risks to the stability of the housing market and the financial system," they said.