Crypto-Backed Loans, Explained: How to Unlock Cash Without Selling Your Bitcoin

The article explains how crypto-backed loans let holders borrow cash against Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana without selling their assets, helping them avoid a taxable sale while retaining upside exposure. It highlights Figure’s offering as an example, emphasizing that the product can lend up to 75% of collateral value, provides fixed-rate financing, same-day funding, and no credit-score requirement. The piece argues that borrowers should focus less on headline APR and more on lender licensing, liquidation terms, and whether the loan offers protections against forced selling during volatility. Market impact is limited and mainly educational, but the piece reinforces the growing maturity of crypto lending and the increasing utility of BTC as collateral for liquidity access. The article also frames these products as suitable only for holders comfortable with margin-call risk, underscoring that volatility remains the key hazard in using crypto as collateral.