MV: Is Bitcoin kept as collateral through the life of the loan?
JR: Yes, we require them to keep Bitcoin collateral through the life of the loan. Once a client pays off the loan, the Bitcoin will go back to their digital wallet and the lien on the property will be removed. The exact unit amount of bitcoin (i.e. 10 bitcoin) would go back to them, and may be worth more or less in dollar terms than when they originally took out the loan.
MV: Who is your target audience for this product?
JR: What we’re seeing is that a crypto consumer tends to skew younger, so I would say that it’ll range from 20’s to 40’s. And I would say probably the average is going to be someone in the 30-year-old range.
MV: In Milo’s press release, there was mention of a waitlist for the crypto mortgage. How many customers are waiting in line to get a crypto mortgage?
JR: Since we launched that waiting list a little over a week ago, I believe we have over 5,800 people on that list. And we expect demand to continue to grow as new people hear about what we’re doing and more importantly, they start to see that there’s an opportunity for them to now diversify and buy real estate. We’ve been really overwhelmed by the amount of interest in people reaching out to us.
MV: If a borrower has $1 million in crypto why would they opt for a crypto mortgage instead of liquidating their Bitcoin and buying a house with cash?
JR: I think the primary reason is the opportunity cost. So, when someone has amassed a significant portion of wealth that’s comprised of crypto it becomes a very big opportunity cost to sell it, if you believe that it’s going to continue to rise over the coming years. And the other aspect is, if you do sell, there’s a likelihood that that’s going to trigger a taxable event.
And then the third reason is that today, for someone that has crypto, it is challenging for them to qualify for a conventional loan. If they have to liquidate their…