The Second Largest Mortgage Lender in the U.S. Will Accept Bitcoin Payments

UWM, the second-largest lender in the United States, announced last week that it plans to accept cryptocurrencies as payments for mortgages. The company expects to accept Bitcoin as early as the third quarter of 2021, and is studying the possibility of accepting ETH and other cryptocurrencies. However, it is unclear whether the company will hold the crypto payments it receives.
According to a statement during last week’s earnings call, UWM will begin accepting cryptocurrency payments sometime in the third quarter. The company will first begin accepting Bitcoin payments and is considering adding ETH and other cryptocurrencies later. Its CEO Mat Ishbia said:
“We have evaluated the feasibility and we look forward to becoming the first mortgage company in the U.S. to accept cryptocurrency to satisfy mortgage payments.”
The company, which emerged from a SPAC merger in January, has no direct contact with clients. Instead, it uses brokers to connect clients to loans. The company did not explain whether the cryptocurrency received would be kept or converted into fiat currency.
Crypto payment options are on the rise If the company succeeds in its goals, we may see mortgages paid in cryptocurrencies by the end of this year. The cryptocurrency payment space has been heating up this year due to increased interest in digital assets. In March, Paypal, one of the largest payment processors, launched a new feature called "Checkout with Cryptocurrency," enabling users to pay with cryptocurrencies at millions of online stores.
However, there is still a roadblock to adopting cryptocurrency payments in the United States. Cryptocurrencies can be considered property in the country, and paying with cryptocurrencies can be considered a sale. This means that, depending on the purchase price, cryptocurrency holders may have to pay capital gains taxes even if they use Bitcoin to pay for a mortgage.
In other countries with less stringent regulations, cryptocurrencies are already being used for real estate payments. This is the case in Venezuela, which recently recorded one of the first public sales of real estate paid for with cryptocurrency. This payment method is said to have many advantages, such as not relying on bank approval, reducing paperwork, and shortening processing time from two weeks to a few hours.

Source: news.bitcoin.com