Aussies who jumped on the cryptocurrency and Bitcoin craze are now able to use those as leverage to secure a home deposit, with Nexo Australia officially joining a small list – NewsWire has verified three other lenders – who now have certifications to lend money to the general public with crypto as collateral.

Australia has relatively high crypto investment per capita, and borrowing against crypto is similar to securities-backed loans or margins.

University of Newcastle personal finance expert Mardy Chiah said lenders likely would not want high loan-to-value ratios because of crypto’s highly volatile nature.

“This…