If you hold Bitcoin but need cash, you have two choices: sell, or borrow against it. Selling means giving up your position and potentially triggering a taxable event. Borrowing lets you unlock liquidity while keeping every satoshi. This guide walks through exactly how to borrow against your Bitcoin without selling it — step by step.
The short version
You lock BTC in a non-custodial multisig vault as collateral, an independent lender sends you USDC, and you get your Bitcoin back in full when you repay. No credit check, no selling, no taxable disposal.
Step 1: Submit a loan request
Start on the borrow page and create a loan request. You specify how much USDC you want and your preferred term. There is no credit check, income verification, or employment history required — your Bitcoin collateral is the only underwriting factor. Use a bitcoin loan calculator to estimate how much collateral you need for your target loan amount and LTV.
Step 2: Receive competing rate proposals
On a marketplace, you do not accept a single take-it-or-leave-it rate. Independent lenders review your request and propose their own interest rates. You can receive multiple proposals at once and have 24 hours to accept or decline each one. This competition is what keeps borrowing costs honest — lenders compete for your business rather than dictating terms.
Step 3: Lock your Bitcoin in a multisig vault
Once you accept a lender's terms, you deposit your BTC into a 3-key multisig vault. This is the critical non-custodial step: you, the lender, and Coinedge each hold one key, and all three signatures are required to move the funds. Your Bitcoin is never handed to the lender or to Coinedge — it sits in a vault that no single party can open. Learn more in 3-Key Multisig Explained.
Step 4: Receive your USDC
After your collateral is confirmed on the Bitcoin blockchain, the lender sends USDC directly to your wallet. Coinedge never holds or routes the loan funds — they flow peer-to-peer from lender to borrower. The cash is yours to use for anything.
Step 5: Repay and reclaim your Bitcoin
You repay principal plus interest in USDC over the agreed term. On full repayment, all three key holders co-sign the release transaction and your Bitcoin returns to your wallet — the same coins you deposited. Because you never sold, you keep 100% of any price appreciation that happened during the loan.
What about price drops during the loan?
Because loans are overcollateralized, there is a buffer between your loan and your collateral value. But if Bitcoin falls sharply and your LTV approaches the pre-agreed threshold, you will be alerted and may need to add collateral or make an early partial repayment. Understanding loan-to-value ratios before you borrow is the best way to stay in the safe zone.
Ready to start? Create a request on the borrow page, or read What Is Crypto Lending? for the bigger picture first.
