The CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) says the company intends to begin accepting cryptoassets for payments by the end of the year.
According to a report by the Detroit Free Press, UWM CEO Mat Ishbia says the Pontiac-based company is in the process of allowing Bitcoin for payments, making it the first major nationwide mortgage lender to do so.
Last Monday (August 16), during YWM’s Q2 2021 earnings call, Ishbia said:
“We’ve evaluated the feasibility, and we’re looking forward to being the first mortgage company in America to accept cryptocurrency to satisfy mortgage payments. That’s something that we’ve been working on, and we’re excited that hopefully in Q3 we could even actually execute on that before anyone in the country, because we are a leader in technology and innovation.“
Ishbia said his company could begin accepting Bitcoin as early as the end of the current financial quarter, with the possibility of adding Ethereum and “others” in the future. The CEO said UWM views itself as a leader in technology and innovation and intends to continue the trend with cryptoassets.
He provided the caveat that while UWM plans on accepting Bitcoin this year, there were “no guarantees” and that the company was still working through some details.
The Bitcoin announcement came in the middle of the company’s second quarter financial results, which included a record-setting volume in the mortgage business. The company closed a total of $59.2 billion in mortgages during Q2 2021, up from $49.1 billion the previous quarter.
Despite the jump in volume, profits during the quarter fell from 2.19% to 0.81%, a trend Ishbia attributed to shrinking margins impacting the entire industry.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.
