APX Lending to Launch Bitcoin-Backed Mortgages in Canada in Q1 2027

APX Lending, based in Toronto, announced plans to launch bitcoin (BTC)-backed mortgage loans in Canada in Q1 2027. The product will allow homebuyers to use BTC as collateral to obtain funds for purchasing real estate, rather than selling the cryptocurrency.

How the product works

In the company's example, a loan for a $95,000 down payment requires $190,000 in BTC as collateral when purchasing a home for $475,000. To cover the entire purchase price, $475,000 in BTC is required, with the property itself serving as collateral. The queue for the product is already open, but rates, repayment terms, and lending conditions have not been announced.

APX CEO Andrey Polyakov stated: “People do not take loans to reinvest in digital assets, but to invest in real estate, start a new business, buy a home, or pay for their children's education.” He added: “We do not lend this collateral or reinvest it in risky ventures. This allows us to protect borrowers.”

Risks and market

The main advantage is the ability to retain BTC and benefit from its price appreciation. The risk is a sharp drop in the collateral's value: the borrower will need to add funds or sell part of the BTC. APX stores cryptocurrency through BitGo and does not lend out the pledged assets; separate rules for under-collateralization, liquidations, and defaults will apply to the mortgages.

Canada's mortgage debt reached $1.75 trillion in June. At the time of publication, BTC was trading at 79,814.00, after a 1% drop over 24 hours. In the US, there is already a product, Milo, with over $100 million in cryptocurrency-backed loans issued. On October 23, Sygnum Bank and Debifi launched MultiSYG, a BTC-backed lending service with segregated multi-signature wallets, where control over the collateral is distributed among the client, the bank, and independent institutional key holders. According to an AMBCrypto report, in Q2, the volume of cryptocurrency-backed loans decreased by 16.78%, to $56.16 billion.