Ledger Launches Bitcoin Loans, Letting Holders Borrow Without Selling

Ledger is giving Bitcoin holders a way to tap cash without parting with their coins, launching a self-custodial lending feature inside its wallet app that keeps final approval on the user's hardware device. Unveiled Wednesday at the TOKEN2049 conference in Singapore, the new Crypto Loan feature lets eligible users pledge wrapped Bitcoin, in the form of cbBTC or wBTC, as collateral to borrow the stablecoins USDC or USDT. The pitch is access to liquidity without moving funds onto a centralized lending platform or selling the underlying asset. Users can open and manage loans directly in Ledger Wallet, track their loan-to-value ratio, add collateral, repay or borrow more, with key actions physically approved on a Ledger signer before they execute. The feature is powered by Morpho, the decentralized credit network, through technical provider Yield.xyz. It’s the same provider Coinbase relies on for its own Bitcoin-backed loans. Ledger separately announced direct access for its signers to Morpho, letting users connect their hardware device to the protocol without routing through browser extensions or software wallets. Morpho co-founder Paul Frambot said the integration creates "a powerful liquidity flywheel," with stablecoins deposited through Ledger's existing Earn product able to fund the very loans Bitcoin holders now take out. The move pushes Ledger, best known for its hardware wallets, deeper into financial services, and lands it in a fast-growing corner of crypto. >Coinbase recently rolled out fixed-rate Bitcoin-backed loans after expanding the product to U.K. users, while JPMorgan has explored lending against Bitcoin and Ethereum. The appeal is consistent across them: holders who expect their crypto to appreciate can borrow against it rather than trigger a taxable sale. The risk is equally familiar, since a sharp price drop can force liquidation of the collateral. Ledger, which says it secures nearly 30% of all Bitcoin held by retail investors, also used the Singapore stage to unveil a limited-edition Nano Gen5 signer made with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, a 250-unit run that extends a >marketing deal with the Spurs announced last year. Crypto Loan begins rolling out to eligible users immediately, with availability expanding over time.