Every guide on the site as a mark on one sounding line, from shallow water to deep: borrowing basics, where to borrow, risks and rules.
- Mark 01 · 5 min readHow Bitcoin-Backed Loans Work: Borrowing Without Selling
A bitcoin-backed loan lets you borrow dollars or a dollar stablecoin while your bitcoin sits as collateral. How the loan is set up, who holds the coins, why there is usually no credit check and no fixed schedule, and the one rule that decides everything: the loan-to-value ratio.
- Mark 02 · 4 min readLoan-to-Value and Margin Calls: The Ratio That Decides Your Loan
Loan-to-value (LTV) compares what you owe with what your collateral is worth, and it moves every time bitcoin’s price does. How LTV is calculated, the warning bands Coinbase publishes for an 86% liquidation threshold, worked examples at three loan sizes, and why onchain loans skip the old-style margin call.
- Mark 03 · 4 min readInterest Rates on Crypto Loans: Variable, Fixed and the Fees on Top
What you actually pay to borrow against bitcoin: variable rates set by an onchain market, fixed rates with a maturity date, processing and platform fees, and how interest feeds back into your loan-to-value. Why a headline rate is not the full cost, and why yields promised to crypto depositors in 2022 deserved suspicion.
- Mark 04 · 4 min readCrypto Loans vs Selling Bitcoin: Comparing the Two Ways to Raise Cash
Selling bitcoin is a taxable disposition with a known result; borrowing against it postpones the sale but adds interest, fees and liquidation risk. A side-by-side comparison using IRS rules and Coinbase’s published loan terms, three situations where each choice tends to fit, and the outcome that combines the worst of both.
- Mark 05 · 4 min readCoinbase Bitcoin-Backed Loans: How They Work, From Coinbase’s Own Terms
A plain reading of Coinbase’s published terms for its crypto-backed loans: USDC borrowed through the Morpho protocol, bitcoin converted to cbBTC as collateral, variable and fixed rates, the 86% liquidation line and 4.38% penalty, loan protection, availability outside New York, and what Coinbase itself lists as the risks. Not an endorsement.
- Mark 06 · 4 min readCentralized vs DeFi Crypto Lending: Who Holds the Collateral
Crypto loans come in two shapes: a company that takes your coins into its own custody, and an onchain protocol where a smart contract holds the collateral and liquidates it automatically. What each model protects you from, what it exposes you to, and what the 2022 failures and today’s onchain products show about both.
- Mark 07 · 4 min readHow to Compare Crypto Lenders: A Checklist Built From Regulators’ Warnings
Rates are the last thing to compare. A checklist for any crypto lender drawn from SEC, FTC, CFTC and FinCEN material: who holds the collateral and whether it is lent out, the liquidation rules, every fee, registration, insurance claims, proof-of-reserves claims, availability in your state, and how you get your bitcoin back.
- Mark 08 · 4 min readCustody and Rehypothecation: What Happens to Your Collateral
When you pledge bitcoin for a loan, someone holds it. Custody explained from the SEC’s bulletin: self-custody versus a third party, commingling, rehypothecation (a lender using your collateral for its own purposes), how wrapped bitcoin and smart contracts change the picture, and what to ask before your coins leave your wallet.
- Mark 09 · 4 min readLiquidation Risk Explained: What Happens When Your Collateral Is Sold
Liquidation is the forced sale of your collateral when a crypto loan’s loan-to-value crosses its threshold. How it is triggered, what the penalty costs, why it can happen faster and worse than expected, how loan protection and fixed-rate maturity change the picture, and the habits that keep a loan far from the line.
- Mark 10 · 4 min readTaxes on Crypto-Backed Loans: What the IRS Rules Say and Don’t Say
Borrowing against bitcoin is not a sale, but several things around the loan can be. What IRS digital asset rules cover, what they do not address, how a liquidation is a disposition with a gain or loss, the role of wrapped bitcoin, Form 1099-DA and Form 8949, the Form 1040 digital asset question, and the records to keep. Not tax advice.
- Mark 11 · 4 min readLessons From Crypto Lender Bankruptcies: Celsius, Voyager and BlockFi
In 2022 crypto lenders that promised bank-like safety froze withdrawals and filed for bankruptcy. What regulators later said happened at Celsius and Voyager, what the SEC found about BlockFi’s lending product, what customers lost, and the warning signs a borrower or depositor can check for today.
- Mark 12 · 4 min readCrypto Loan Scams to Avoid: Fake Lenders, Advance Fees and Promised Yields
Scams around crypto loans borrow the look of real lenders. The patterns regulators describe: fake platforms that take your collateral, advance fees demanded in crypto, guaranteed returns for lending your bitcoin, impersonators of real companies, and romance-driven investment pitches. The red flags, and where to report.