Milo Tops $100 Million in Crypto-Backed Mortgages, Closes Record $12 Million Deal
•February 18, 2026
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Companies Mentioned
Why It Matters
Milo’s milestone proves crypto can be a viable, low‑risk source of real‑estate financing, expanding liquidity for digital‑asset investors and challenging conventional mortgage models.
Key Takeaways
- •Milo originated over $100M in crypto mortgages
- •Largest deal: $12M crypto‑backed mortgage
- •Zero margin calls despite crypto volatility
- •Loans up to $25M, 8.25% interest rate
- •Collateral held with custodians or self‑custody
Pulse Analysis
The $100 million milestone signals that crypto‑backed mortgages are moving from niche experiments to mainstream financing tools. As Bitcoin and Ether holdings swell among affluent investors, firms like Milo provide a bridge between digital wealth and tangible assets, allowing borrowers to preserve long‑term crypto positions while acquiring property. This model taps a growing demographic—30‑ to 55‑year‑old professionals whose net worth is heavily weighted in crypto—and offers a solution to the liquidity gap that traditional lenders typically fill with cash down payments.
Milo’s risk‑management framework differentiates it from standard crypto loans. By demanding full‑value collateral and structuring loans to tolerate up to 65‑70 percent drawdowns, the company avoids the abrupt margin calls that plague many crypto‑lending platforms. The ability to derisk the loan rather than foreclose protects both borrower equity and the lender’s balance sheet, even during Bitcoin’s notorious price swings. This conservative approach, combined with custodial options from Coinbase, BitGo, or self‑custody, builds regulatory confidence and appeals to risk‑averse institutional partners.
Regulators are closely watching crypto‑linked credit products, and Milo’s multi‑state licensing strategy positions it to adapt to evolving compliance demands. By integrating real‑estate collateral with blockchain‑grade custody, the firm creates a hybrid asset class that could reshape mortgage underwriting standards. If adoption accelerates, traditional banks may face pressure to develop comparable crypto‑mortgage offerings, potentially unlocking billions of dollars of otherwise idle digital wealth for the housing market.
Milo tops $100 million in crypto-backed mortgages, closes record $12 million deal
Milo tops $100 million in crypto‑backed mortgages, closes record $12 million deal
Feb 18, 2026, 12:00 p.m.
Milo, a U.S. cryptocurrency lending business that specializes in crypto‑backed mortgages, has originated over $100 million in home loans, including the company's largest single transaction to date, a $12 million crypto mortgage.
The firm, which holds mortgage provider licenses in ten U.S. states with more to follow, has a perfect track record of zero margin calls across its mortgage portfolio, despite enduring consistently choppy periods of volatility for bitcoin and other cryptos, Milo said in a press release on Wednesday.
The firm allows crypto holders to pledge their bitcoin or ether as collateral for loan amounts up to $25 million without having to sell their digital assets, eliminating the need for cash down payments and avoiding costly taxable events.
Stepping back, Milo founder Josip Rupena said people who were perhaps advised by a friend to buy some Bitcoin 10 years ago and had the courage to hold on to it through recurring cycles of volatility may find that today maybe 95 % of their net worth is in crypto.
Such people will typically be aged between 30 and 55, have a job, and perhaps a retirement account, but they don’t have enough income to buy the home they would like to, Rupena said.
“Our typical transaction is a million‑and‑a‑half‑dollar home,” Rupena said in an interview. “A customer might make $100k a year and their crypto net worth might be anywhere from three to seven million. If you were to replace Bitcoin with Apple stock, a product like ours would probably not need to exist. But because the consumer owns an asset that is not widely accepted, plus its concerns around the volatility, means that products like ours do need to exist to help them buy a home.”
Milo asks for 100 % of the value of the property in crypto collateral, which can be held with qualified custodians like Coinbase or BitGo, or there is a self‑custodial option for those who want to keep complete control of their assets. The loans, which start at 8.25 %, can also be used for things like acquiring land, funding home improvements, and business investments.
Unlike regular crypto loans which can have margin calls at 25 % drops, Milo designed the product to be more conservative and accommodate 65 % drawdowns.
Even in turbulent times like the past few months, if a drawdown situation were to cross the necessary threshold, Milo would reduce the value of the loan, Rupena said, so that the customer could continue to have the mortgage.
“We would just essentially derisk the 100 % and bring it down to a 65 % or 70 %, like a regular mortgage, and then they could continue to make payments. We designed it in a way that as long as a person can continue to make payments, they're going to be able to continue to have this home. They're not going to lose their home, because Bitcoin goes down,” he said.
So far Milo has done several transactions in the property hotspot of Miami and more in other parts of Florida, as well as Texas, California, Colorado, Connecticut and Arizona. The $12 million transaction mentioned in the press release was in Tennessee, Rupena said.
The product has been given the blessing of bitcoin pioneer and CEO of Blockstream, Adam Back.
“Milo's product is a game changer in bitcoin lending and unlocks real world use cases for so many bitcoiners," said Back in a statement. "While bitcoin continues to appreciate, buyers are able to build equity in real estate and don't have to sell their long‑term conviction, bitcoin.”
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