Buying a home with crypto? Texas homebuilding giant to offer 2.9% mortgage
Megatel Homes, one of the largest private homebuilding firms in Texas, is launching a new cryptocurrency to attract homebuyers by offering low mortgage rates.
On Wednesday, the company announced the launch of its programme, along with a new app and cryptocurrency called the MP token via its fintech subsidiary, MegPrime.
Home buyers who purchase a Megtel property and make their mortgage payments with MP tokens could qualify for a mortgage rate as low as 2.9% — far below the national average 6% for 30-year mortgages.
Likewise, brokers who sell a property denominated in the MP token will receive a 6% commission.
And after receiving a no-action letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission this month, Zach Ipour, CEO and co-founder of Megatel Homes and MegPrime, is optimistic the venture will be huge.
“Our plan is mega,” he told DL News. “The plan isn’t small when you combine the power of cryptocurrencies with the housing market, and all the benefits that come with it.”
$50 trillion market
Combining volatile cryptocurrencies with mortgage payments and the $50 trillion housing market was always going to be a nervy mix.
But 2025 has shown there is real political appetite to move ahead all the same.
Last summer, William Pulte, the director of the US Federal Housing Finance Agency, said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — two government-backed mortgage guarantors — would “prepare” to accept cryptocurrencies as a mortgage.
Likewise, Etherealize, one of Ethereum’s lobbying arms focused on Wall Street, is looking to bring a whole slew of assets linked to the housing market onchain.
“Full mortgage securities, and the whole packaging and repackaging of structured products based on that makes all the sense in the world,” Vivek Raman, CEO of Etherealize, told DL News in September.
Ipour said the programme has been primed and ready for some time, but needed clarity from the SEC before moving forward. On January 15, he got it.
In a letter to the commission on January 12, law firms representing Megatel recommended that the SEC not take any enforcement action against the homebuilding firm for launching the token.
“MegPrime Holding LLC will market the MegPrime token as a crypto asset solution for households’ monthly budget needs and as a way to meet affordability goals, including home ownership,” the letter read. “It will not market the MegPrime token as an investment.”
Jonathan A. Ingram, the deputy chief counsel for the commission’s division of corporate finance, acquiesced days later.
“We are basically promoting our payment platform that is empowered by MP token,” Ipour said. “You can use this currency for everything that you expect, from buying coffee to pay rent.”
What’s next?
The MegPrime app, which is expected to launch on February 26, is being pitched as a payments app. Alongside MP tokens, users can also hold stablecoins.
Marketing materials also indicate the launch of a MegPrime payment card.
Ipour hinted at additional partnerships around the world, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
Liam Kelly is DL News’ Berlin-based DeFi correspondent. Have a tip? Get in touch at [email protected].
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