Mortgage Your House With Mogo, Get Bitcoin Reward: Why This Matters

Mogo Inc MOGO has extended its Bitcoin BTC/USD cashback program to include MogoMortgage, according to a Monday press release.

What Happened: The program, which Mogo initially offered as part of its Mogo Visa Platinum Prepaid Card and digital spending account, will allow customers to get a new mortgage with Mogo or refinancing an existing mortgage to receive up to $3,100 in bitcoin. The bitcoin would be deposited to the customers' bitcoin and rewards accounts.

Why It Matters: As a Vancouver-based fintech company, Mogo is unique because it is the only mortgage, personal loan and investment services business that allows its customers to directly invest in bitcoin. With the mortgage market in Canada estimated to be worth $1.7 trillion, Mogo hopes to gain market share by offering its clients the ability to buy bitcoin securely through its services to help customers increase their wealth.

“Unlike traditional reward programs, bitcoin rewards have the unique characteristic of being an asset class that can rise in value over time — $3,100 invested in bitcoin 5 years ago would be worth over $350,000 today,” said David Feller, founder and CEO at Mogo.

To calm customer fears around directly investing in bitcoin, Mogo hopes its mortgage reward program will also draw in new but more crypto-weary customers.

See also: Best Mortgage Lender Companies

“Given the volatility and speculative nature of bitcoin, there’s an increasing number of Canadians who are looking for ways to participate without risking their own money, and our bitcoin rewards program meets this demand, Mogo said in the release.

What’s More: The move comes as more companies and banks are offering customers options to invest and pay for products using bitcoin. Recently Morgan Stanley MS announced it would offer its wealthiest clients the ability to invest in certain cryptocurrencies, and last week Tesla Inc TSLA announced it would allow customers to pay for electric vehicles using bitcoin.

Related Link: Why Buying A Tesla With Bitcoin Isn't Really A Good Idea — For Now

(Photo by Dmitry Demidko on Unsplash)