Ledger adds bitcoin-backed stablecoin loans to its wallet app

Hardware wallet maker Ledger on Oct. 7 added a feature to its Ledger Wallet app that lets users borrow stablecoins against bitcoin. Unveiling Crypto Loan in its October release notes on its official blog, Ledger said users can "put your Bitcoin to work without letting it go." Accepted collateral is cbBTC and wBTC, tokens that represent bitcoin 1:1 so it can be used on other blockchains, and users can borrow the dollar stablecoins USDC and USDT.

Morpho lends, the device signs

The loans themselves are made not by Ledger but on Morpho, a decentralized lending protocol, while Yield.xyz handles the integration inside the app. Ledger said collateral stays on-chain in smart contracts rather than on someone else's balance sheet. Users can simulate a loan before committing and, while monitoring their loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, add collateral, repay, borrow more or withdraw.

Ledger said every step, from the initial approval through collateral supply, repayment and withdrawal, appears in human-readable language on the hardware device's screen, and that private keys never leave the device's secure chip. The same day, Ledger also launched direct access to the Morpho App for Ledger devices without a browser extension. Through that connection, users can deposit, borrow and withdraw across Morpho's isolated lending markets and curated vaults on Ethereum and major layer 2s. Ledger said Ledger Wallet offers a choice of 50 providers and 100 chains. Ledger noted that Crypto Loan is subject to country availability, that interest rates are variable and depend on utilization of the underlying lending markets, and that liquidation risks apply.

Coinbase got there first

Coinbase was already offering bitcoin-backed loans through Morpho. In January 2025, it began offering bitcoin-backed USDC loans on its layer 2 network Base to U.S. users outside New York State. The Block reported at the time that loans were capped at $100,000 and required collateral of at least 133% of the amount borrowed. Morpho said in a Sept. 22 blog post that Coinbase's Morpho-powered variable-rate loans had grown to more than $1.4 billion in active loans backed by about $3 billion of collateral. The same day, Coinbase also launched fixed-rate bitcoin-backed USDC loans using Morpho Midnight, the protocol's fixed-rate infrastructure. As of Ledger's Oct. 7 blog post, its product listed only variable rates. According to Decrypt, Morpho co-founder Paul Frambot described the setup, in which stablecoins deposited through Ledger's Earn product help fund loans, as "a powerful liquidity flywheel."

Morpho's public data showed that at about 8:30 p.m. KST on Oct. 7, the cbBTC-collateral USDC market on Base had about $1.53 billion in loans and about $3.26 billion in collateral, with a borrow rate of 4.95% a year. The same market on Ethereum had about $300 million in loans at 4.77%, and the wBTC-collateral USDC market had about $116 million at 4.82%. These markets are set to liquidate when a loan reaches 86% of the collateral's value. For example, a borrower who took out half the collateral's value would hit that line if the collateral price fell about 42%. Because native bitcoin is not accepted directly, bitcoin held on an exchange or in a wallet must first be converted into cbBTC or wBTC.

Bitcoin at 113.72 million won on Upbit

Neither cbBTC nor wBTC is listed on Upbit's Korean won market. Morpho's governance token MORPHO trades on the won markets of Upbit and Bithumb. At about 8:30 p.m. KST on Oct. 7, MORPHO was at 3,413 won on Upbit, down 6.6% from the previous day.

At the same time, bitcoin traded at 113,721,000 won on Upbit and 113,840,000 won on Bithumb. On Binance, it was at $83,667, down about 3% over 24 hours, and the Upbit price was about 1.5% above the won-converted Binance price, a gap known as the kimchi premium (the difference between prices on Korean exchanges and global markets). Bitcoin fell below $84,000 that day.