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Decentralized mortgage lender Bacon Protocol mints mortgages as nonfungible tokens (NFTs) offering investors and borrowers new options for accessing the residential mortgage market. https://www.baconcoin.com/

Fluidity is launching ethereum-powered mortgages in California and New York. The mortgages will be recorded via smart contracts, while using cryptocurrency for back-end management.

The Dubai Land Department, the real estate arm of the Executive Council of Dubai, has partnered with UAE-based Mashreq Bank to release a blockchain-based mortgage platform.

The Bank of Russian is reportedly developing a digital mortgage platform powered by a domestically developed blockchain called Masterchain. Masterchain is reportedly the first blockchain platform in Russia to be certified by the Federal Security Service. It is a permissioned, Ethereum-based blockchain that was launched in 2017.

The National Bank of Hungary (MNB), working with eight Hungarian banks and eleven insurers, developed a distributed ledger technology (DLT) based home insurance scheme, to coordinate data sharing about mortgage insurance policies. The paperless and transparent data transfer will reduce administrative work and reconciliations. Data sharing will be General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant, so the homeowners will have to provide consent, and only the insurer and the bank will have the right to see the data, and not the central bank. https://www.mnb.hu/sajtoszoba/sajtokozlemenyek/2025-evi-sajtokozlemenyek/blokklanc-alapu-digitalis-csatorna-a-bankok-lakasbiztositok-kozt-csokkennek-az-ugyfelterhek

CBDC design must consider the creation process of all money across a number of categories which in step one could greatly improve the overall transparency, and manageability of the movement of money, and related values - i.e., seigniorage and demurrage. Our current thoughts on these categories include mortgages, certificates of deposits, corporate debt, student loans, auto loans, credit card debt, checking accounts, and HELOC. CBDC design papers largely omit discussions around the instantiation of fiat currency. It is necessary to examine the current birth process of fiat currencies which are largely brought into existence by the process of the collateralized lending activities by commercial banks (e.g., mortgages), a business model not readily available to competing private currencies.

Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse says that most people are obsessing over recent debacles in the crypto industry while ignoring what's going on in the traditional finance world. "The world is (appropriately) outraged by SBF and FTX's fraud, but when Wells Fargo mismanages billions in customer funds as well, it's barely a blip on the radar. Food for thought…" Wells Fargo agreed to a $3.7 billion settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over customer abuses tied to mortgages, auto loans and overdraft fees. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-wells-fargo-to-pay-37-billion-for-widespread-mismanagement-of-auto-loans-mortgages-and-deposit-accounts/

A quantitative model of mortgage lending suggests that regulation accounts for roughly 60% of shadow bank growth, while technology accounts for roughly 30%.

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Bank of America have seen their share of home loan origination fall from a peak of 49% in 2010 to just 19 per cent in the first half of this year. Quicken Loans became America's largest mortgage lender last year.

"The sophistication that blockchain technology and smart contracts bring will lead to huge operational cost savings and the opening of new untapped markets."

Last month a unit of Societe Generale sold EUR 100M of mortgage-backed covered bonds in the form of digital tokens with the French bank as the only buyer. The idea was to test how the technology behind can be used to cut costs and speed settlement for the securities.

Banks that adopted IT more intensely before the Global Crisis were significantly more resilient when the shock hit. These banks had significantly fewer non-performing loans, and issued more loans during the crisis itself. Loan-level analysis indicates that high IT adoption banks issued mortgages with better performances and did not offload low-quality loans.

"Fintechs that help people do things remotely, like communicate about work, apply for a mortgage or make electronic payments, appear to be thriving, at least so far."

"A banana can be removed from its peel. A loan can be separated from the right to bill you every month. Now NFTs have cleaved bragging rights from artwork. What these things are worth is a matter of opinion."

According to Paul Amery (New Money Review): Permissible investment rules for US money transmitters vary state by state but typically allow them hold corporate bonds, currency, foreign government debt, asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. US dollar money market funds, which closely resemble stablecoins in their objectives, operate according to more detailed and stringent reserve and disclosure obligations set by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Permissible investments are limited to cash, direct obligations of the US government, certain securities issued by US government instrumentalities with a remaining maturity date of 60 days or less, and securities that mature or are subject to a demand feature exercisable and payable within five business days.

"You may believe that all those mortgages and credit card loans are meaningless assets. You may believe the US government will not be able to collect enough taxes to roll over those Treasury bills. If you are right, then yes, the dollar has no value. But we're still not talking about trusting anyone's fiat. We're talking about credit analysis. So, please: let's stop calling it fiat money. Let's start calling it what it is: credit money. "

Australians can now choose to share their banking data to access more personalised financial products and services following the launch of the Consumer Data Right. All four major banks are capable of sharing their customers' data, when requested by the customer. Other authorised deposit-taking institutions will join the Consumer Data Right over the coming year. Overseen by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, consumer data relating to credit and debit cards, deposit accounts and transaction accounts are now available to be shared. Mortgage and personal loan data will be added from November.

In a chapter in the April 2022 Global Financial Stability Report and an accompanying blog post, International Monetary Fund staff argue that, while Fintech can increase efficiency and competition and broaden access to financial services, the fast growth of fintech firms into risky business segments-and their inadequate regulation and interconnectedness with the traditional financial system-can have financial stability implications. The chapter explores three key types of fintech to illustrate these risks: digital banks ("neobanks"), long-established fintech firms in the US mortgage market, and decentralized finance ("DeFi"). The chapter argues that policies targeting fintech and traditional financial firms proportionally are needed. In the case of DeFi, regulations should focus on the elements of the crypto ecosystem that enable it, such as stablecoin issuers and centralized exchanges.

This BIS paper considers the emerging asset-backed security (ABS) market in China and its rapid adoption of blockchain technology. It finds that adopting blockchain has improved the efficiency and transparency of ABS trading in China. In particular, the cost of ABS issuance has fallen by around 25 basis points. This benefit is larger for ABS based on less standardised and more opaque assets, such as consumer loans or accounts receivable, than for residential mortgage-backed securities. Finally, the paper presents evidence that market participants appreciate the benefit of using blockchain for certain types of ABS deal when key players in the deals are familiar with each other.

New Zealand will introduce open banking over the next two years. Minister of commerce and consumer affairs David Clark said "open banking ensures banks must share customer information if they request it, making it easier for New Zealanders to compare mortgage rates, apply for loans, and switch banks."