Canada's APX Launches Bitcoin-Backed Mortgages

Canadian Lender APX to Launch Bitcoin-Backed Mortgages in Early 2027

Canadian lender APX Lending announced plans to introduce mortgages backed by Bitcoin in early 2027, allowing homebuyers to leverage their cryptocurrency without needing to sell it first. While details on interest rates, loan-to-value ratios, and liquidation conditions remain undisclosed, these are precisely the aspects that will require scrutiny for the new product.

For Canadian Bitcoin holders, purchasing a home may soon be possible without the immediate need to liquidate their digital assets. APX Lending announced on Wednesday its intention to launch Bitcoin-collateralized mortgages in early 2027, opening a waitlist on the same day. The company claims this will be the first Bitcoin mortgage product offered by a regulated lender in Canada.

The Toronto-based firm, which already specializes in crypto-asset-backed loans, recently unveiled a five-year credit line secured by Bitcoin and Ether. The mortgage offering extends this same collateralization logic to real estate transactions. According to APX’s proposed structure, borrowers will be able to pledge their Bitcoin directly to the lender in exchange for home purchase funds, bypassing the need to convert the cryptocurrency into Canadian dollars.

For instance, on a C$475,000 (approximately US$340,000) home, a buyer needing only a 20% down payment, or C$95,000 (approximately US$68,000), would need to pledge roughly US$190,000 worth of Bitcoin. If the entire purchase price were financed through this method, the pledged Bitcoin would be valued at approximately US$475,000, with the property itself serving as additional collateral.

APX has yet to disclose the mortgage interest rates, repayment terms, maximum loan-to-value ratios, or margin call and liquidation conditions, stating only that full terms will be revealed before the official launch. For comparison, its current crypto-collateralized loans carry annual interest rates ranging from 9.99% to 11.49%, with a loan-to-value limit of 60%. Collateral is held by BitGo and is not re-lent. When the loan-to-value ratio reaches 90%, the system automatically sells a portion of the Bitcoin to bring the ratio back down to 85%.

The company emphasized that the mortgage product will have its own distinct collateral and default handling provisions, including notification periods and opportunities for remediation.

Statistics from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) show that the national residential mortgage balance reached C$1.75 trillion in June. In contrast, APX CEO Andrei Poliakov estimates the Canadian market for Bitcoin-collateralized real estate financing to be between US$44 million and US$73 million, representing less than one-thousandth of the overall mortgage market.

He also revealed that 15.8% of APX’s current crypto-collateralized loan balances are already related to real estate, indicating existing demand, albeit within a very niche segment.

The United States appears to be moving at a faster pace. Miami-based Milo announced in February that it had originated over US$100 million in crypto-collateralized mortgages, including a single US$12 million transaction, accepting Bitcoin or Ether as collateral with terms up to 30 years.

Separately, the partnership between Coinbase and Better addresses only the down payment funding gap, where crypto assets serve as collateral for the loan, not for the entire mortgage. The Canadian offering ties the entire mortgage to the property, making its structure more akin to traditional mortgages but with an added layer of cryptocurrency price volatility.

The primary concern with crypto-collateralized loans is margin calls. APX’s own calculations show that for a loan originated at a 50% loan-to-value ratio, a 40% drop in Bitcoin’s price would increase the ratio to approximately 83%, leaving only a 7% buffer before hitting the current 90% automatic liquidation threshold. With the property also pledged as collateral, a single default event would trigger two distinct liquidation processes: first, the sale of Bitcoin, and then the foreclosure on the property.

This is why APX has built in flexibility in its terms. Poliakov stated that selling the Bitcoin collateral and exercising the mortgage on the property are separate actions that should be handled distinctly. He also believes that adding the property to the collateral structure reduces lender risk, potentially leading to lower borrowing costs, which he sees as another pricing variable to watch beyond the current credit line starting at 9.99%.

It is also important to note that APX’s claim of being “regulated” refers to the company itself being subject to Ontario’s lending and mortgage brokerage regulations, not that the product has received regulatory approval. Canada currently lacks specific legislation for crypto-asset-backed mortgages, and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI)’s capital and liquidity rules do not yet extend to such non-bank lenders.

For borrowers, the true determinant of risk lies not in whether the company is licensed, but in the specific clauses within the contract concerning margin call thresholds, liquidation order, and remediation periods. While such products may appear attractive during periods of low volatility, sharp downturns represent the ultimate stress test.