Zak Schwarzman, General Partner, MetaProp:
We are excited to welcome Josip Rupena, Founder and CEO of Milo, in this edition of MetaProp’s Founder Spotlight series.

We’ve been fortunate to partner with Josip and the Milo team from their earliest days as they set out to make U.S. homeownership more accessible to overlooked consumers across the globe. Today, Milo’s pioneering crypto-backed mortgage product has surpassed $65 million in originations, and following the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) recent directive that Fannie and Freddie begin to incorporate digital assets into the GSE’s underwriting frameworks, the momentum is undeniable.

Josip, over the last few years, Milo has carved out a distinctive presence in an underserved segment of the homebuying market. In many ways, you’ve been out in front of the category, helping define what this market could become. Take us back to the early vision. What have been the pivotal moments that shaped Milo’s evolution into what it is today?

Josip Rupena, Founder & CEO, Milo:
When we launched Milo, our goal was to enable international buyers to purchase U.S. real estate. During my time in private banking at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, I saw firsthand that even highly qualified clients—people with significant wealth—struggled to get a mortgage simply because they didn’t have U.S. income or credit history. We built a platform to address those barriers and ultimately originated over $100 million in loans to these consumers.

Over time, we noticed that another financially qualified group was facing similar challenges: crypto holders. For the past decade, banks and traditional lenders haven’t recognized cryptocurrency holdings when evaluating mortgage applications. Even individuals with substantial Bitcoin or Ethereum assets were forced to liquidate their crypto, transfer the cash into a bank account, and then wait before applying. This created a painful dilemma. Selling crypto assets means incurring capital gains taxes and losing potential upside—something that, for many, felt like parting with an asset that had become an extension of their identity.

About one in eight consumers actually liquidated crypto just to qualify for a mortgage. We believed there had to be a better way.

We launched the first true 30-year crypto mortgage with up to 100% financing in 2022. To be the first to bring this product to market—and to see it succeed—was a very big deal for a lot of consumers who held crypto. So far, we’ve originated over $65 million in crypto-backed loans. Our customers have collectively built more than $50 million in additional value simply by avoiding forced liquidation. We’ve also returned over $30 million in Bitcoin to clients who paid down or fully repaid their loans.

What resonates most is how much trust our customers placed in us right from the beginning. That trust became the backbone of our growth and continues to define how we operate.

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Zak: The recent FHFA ruling feels like a real inflection point for the industry. For those who might not be familiar, can you share what this ruling means in practical terms for consumers? And how does this policy shift validate what you set out to build?

Josip: It’s a significant moment and a fundamental shift in how traditional lenders view crypto—and we believe Milo is uniquely positioned to support this next chapter of rapid growth for the category.

Under the FHFA’s new directive, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will now consider cryptocurrency as part of a borrower’s total wealth in single-family mortgage assessments, reinforcing principles we’ve believed since Milo’s inception: cryptocurrency, as an asset class, has lasting value; crypto-native consumers increasingly require access to real-world financial products; and those wishing to access homeownership need solutions tailored specifically for them.

Unlike most bank mortgages, Milo doesn’t require a homeowner to make a down payment. We finance up to 100% of the transaction, which most banks won’t do, and that’s unlikely to change even with the new FHFA policy. For many of our clients, that’s a very meaningful distinction. They can finance the full purchase price of a home without liquidating assets or tying up additional cash.

We’ve built the infrastructure, licensing, and compliance rigor from day one. We understand the nuances of crypto collateral, and we’ve demonstrated that it can be integrated safely into the mortgage ecosystem. It’s a very exciting time for the category.

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Zak: You’ve operated at the intersection of financial regulation, crypto markets, and the mortgage industry—an incredibly complex environment. Looking back on your journey thus far, what stands out in navigating that complexity as you scaled Milo?

Josip: A lot of people don’t realize what it truly means to own crypto. Most of our clients didn’t buy Bitcoin last year—they bought it years ago. They’ve held through volatility because they believe in the long-term value of the asset. For many, it’s not just part of their portfolio, it’s part of their identity. So when it comes time to make a major life decision like buying a home, selling that crypto isn’t just financial, it’s emotional.

That’s why trust is foundational to how we operate. Clients need to know their digital wealth is secure. We built Milo to honor that trust: our model is straightforward, transparent, and built around security. We don’t custody crypto ourselves. We work with regulated custodians like Coinbase and BitGo, where assets are held in insured, audited, segregated cold storage. We don’t rehypothecate. We don’t take risks with client collateral. And our underwriting model is built to weather market swings without triggering forced sales or unexpected calls.

That clarity has been a major factor in building confidence with both customers and regulators.

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Zak: As you look ahead following this milestone policy shift and the momentum it’s created, what are you most focused on in this next phase of growth for Milo?

Josip: Expanding access, building trust, and scaling responsibly. I see it as a huge responsibility to the entire crypto ecosystem. If we do things right, we’ll help the category mature, and more consumers will benefit. If we make mistakes, it could set the industry back. That’s why we’re conservative by design and very transparent about how we operate.

Demand has been growing rapidly, and we’re investing heavily in scaling our team, technology, and operations to meet it. The recent FHFA directive to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is an important signal that crypto collateral is gaining broader recognition. It validates our model and puts Milo in a unique position to scale at this inflection point. As we grow, we’re also broadening our focus—refining how we underwrite assets, developing tools to serve a wider range of buyers, and building partnerships that can advance the entire ecosystem.

At our core, we’re here to open doors. We remain committed to helping qualified buyers access homeownership on their own terms, particularly those overlooked by the traditional system for far too long.

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Read more about Milo and their crypto mortgage platform in The New York Times.