Bitcoin Investors Faced Mortgage Hurdles Due to Crypto-Tied Assets, Says Cathie Wood: 'Won't Be Surprised' If They Were To Shift Some Of Their BTC To Coinbase

Seasoned investor Cathie Wood said Saturday that Bitcoin BTC/USD holders may not hesitate to shift their holdings to a centralized cryptocurrency exchange to avail home loans.

What Happened: Wood, the CEO of ARK Invest, was responding to an X user who suggested that Bitcoin holders, who typically self-custody their assets, would be unlikely to move their holdings to a centralized exchange to help their loan applications.

Wood countered this view, stating, “Bitcoin hodlers probably have a large percent of their net worth in crypto and therefore have not been able to qualify for a mortgage. I wouldn't be surprised if they were to shift some of their Bitcoin to Coinbase to serve as collateral for a once unattainable new home.”

Self-custody is a widely touted ideal in the cryptocurrency space, advocating control of one’s digital assets, specifically private keys, without relying on a third-party custodian. Purists consider holding coins on exchanges, like Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, as against the cryptocurrency ethos.

The COIN stock boasted a high Momentum and Growth ranking as of this writing. Find out how other cryptocurrency stocks stack up on these metrics using Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings.

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Why It Matters: Wood’s comments come after the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced plans to consider cryptocurrency as an asset for a mortgage. However, the directive asked mortgage giants Fannie and Freddie to consider only those assets that can be stored on a U.S.-regulated cryptocurrency exchange, subject to applicable laws

Wood praised the directive, stating that it could bolster both crypto and housing significantly.

Wood has been an outspoken advocate of Bitcoin, forecasting that it will reach $700,000 in the coming years, with the bull case in the $1.5 million range.

Her asset management firm maintains a sizeable portfolio of cryptocurrency stocks and makes significant trades from time to time, depending on the market movements. Recently, ARK Fintech Innovation ETF ARKF offloaded nearly $40 million worth of Coinbase shares.

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $108,523.02, up 1.08% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Photo Courtesy: Stonel on Shutterstock.com

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