Listing BTC as a financial asset for loans with B&M banks

[Rygon]

I was just wondering if anyone has tried to apply for a loan in fiat from a traditional bank and put down the value of their BTC holdings as an asset? I'm thinking of when you apply for a mortgage, and they want to know things like savings account balances, stock holdings, valuables, etc. Sometimes that $100K in assets makes up for less income when applying for the loan. Has anyone looked into it or tried and gotten some sort of response from a bank? It seems likely that some people here would have acquired BTC at a low price and accumulated an amount that later appreciated to become a significant asset. Why sell it when you could use as proof of assets for a loan?

It would be easy to verify by signing a message from the address where the BTC is located, although I'm sure most loan offices in banks wouldn't be technologically sophisticated to verify it.

[whitenight639]

Can't you list it as some kind of offshore trust account, or foreign currency holdings, If you declare bitcoins I don't think they would want to acknowledge it, they may not see it as such an asset because of the volatility of it (if they do recognise it they may undervalue it).


I'm sure you are aware that if you declare it to the bank then they will probably share information with the IRS or your national tax office, its probably very hard to 'undeclare' something and I'm sure there will be relevant taxes to pay on large sums of capital.

[Rygon]

Can't you list it as some kind of offshore trust account, or foreign currency holdings, If you declare bitcoins I don't think they would want to acknowledge it, they may not see it as such an asset because of the volatility of it (if they do recognise it they may undervalue it).


I'm sure you are aware that if you declare it to the bank then they will probably share information with the IRS or your national tax office, its probably very hard to 'undeclare' something and I'm sure there will be relevant taxes to pay on large sums of capital.

Perhaps "foreign currency holdings" is the way to do it. And I would actually agree with undervaluing it since there is a lot of volatility.


And the taxes would only be due when the BTC is exchanged for fiat, assuming there is a profit. And I can certainly understand that those who value the anonymity of BTC would never want to reveal their balance to anyone. But I could imagine that for some people, the potential benefits of getting a good loan would outweigh the risk of eventually paying taxes on the BTC profit.

[HighInBC]

It is difficult to get a bank to accept gold as collateral, unless you let them hold it.

I imagine if a bank did take bitcoin as backing for a loan that they would want it transfered to them.

I wonder if pawn shops accept bitcoins.

[JusticeForYou]

It is difficult to get a bank to accept gold as collateral, unless you let them hold it.

I imagine if a bank did take bitcoin as backing for a loan that they would want it transfered to them.

I wonder if pawn shops accept bitcoins.

I doubt a bank would. A pawn shop 'might' but only for 30% of the deposit.

[repentance]

Can't you list it as some kind of offshore trust account, or foreign currency holdings, If you declare bitcoins I don't think they would want to acknowledge it, they may not see it as such an asset because of the volatility of it (if they do recognise it they may undervalue it).

Banks don't normally accept your word for any assets and income you list - they usually require proof.  If you're lucky, they'll just decline the loan if you can't provide proof that you have "foreign currency holdings" or an "offshore trust" to the value claimed.  If you're less lucky, they'll regard it as attempted fraud.