In a policy shift that will likely be embraced by Americans, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) of the United States has directed mortgage institutions to begin recognizing cryptocurrency holdings as assets in mortgage applications. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the two largest government-backed mortgage institutions in the US.  The move announced by FHFA Director Bill Pulte on X is the first time the U.S. government has endorsed the inclusion of digital assets in federally backed home loan assessments. Break from Previous Policy This directive marks a notable reversal from earlier guidance issued during the Biden administration, which prohibited…

Ledger, a leading company that makes hardware wallets for cryptocurrency, has launched a new offline tool to help users recover their crypto wallets without using the internet or saving any personal information. The new tool is called Ledger Recovery Key. It works with Ledger Flex or Ledger Stax devices and stores your private key on a smart card that uses NFC. You can keep it safe and access it using a special PIN code. This tool is different from Ledger’s older service, Ledger Recover, which saves parts of your recovery phrase on secure cloud servers. The new Ledger Recovery Key…

Crypto exchange OKX is reportedly focusing on a U.S. initial public offering (IPO) with the aim of expansion in the American market.  The venture is seen as influenced by the resurgence in public listing efforts within the crypto industry. Crypto exchange Circle’s blockbuster IPO raised roughly $1.1 billion and its stock price soared nearly fourfold, injecting renewed optimism in the crypto sector.  OKX Chief Marketing Officer Haider Rafique said the company would “absolutely consider an IPO in the future”. He added the listing would “likely be in the U.S.” While the suggestion of a potential IPO signals to OKX’s ambitions…

Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is encouraging crypto platforms to add a “will” feature so people can pass on their digital assets after they die. “This is a topic people avoid, but the fact is, humans cannot live forever, every platform should have a ‘will function’ so that when someone is no longer around, their assets can be distributed to designated accounts according to specified proportions,” CZ wrote on X. This comes after Binance launched a new update on June 12 that lets users add an emergency contact and set up inheritance options. If a user is…