Coinbase Adds Fixed-Rate Bitcoin-Backed USDC Loans

Coinbase has introduced fixed-rate loans that let customers borrow USDC against bitcoin, setting the interest rate and repayment date when each loan begins. The product runs through Morpho Midnight, a lending protocol on Base, and gives customers an alternative to Coinbase’s existing variable-rate borrowing. The new loans keep bitcoin as collateral while providing borrowers with USDC. Coinbase manages the customer interface, Morpho supplies the lending protocol, and transactions settle on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer 2 network. The fixed-rate option does not replace the variable-rate service, which continues to operate through Morpho Blue. Coinbase says its variable-rate loans have more than $1.4 billion outstanding, backed by about $3 billion in collateral. Those figures describe borrowing through Coinbase’s service and should not be conflated with broader totals reported for Morpho or other Coinbase-linked activity, which use different measures and scopes. The interest rates for the new loans have not been disclosed. A Coinbase spokesperson said rates are determined through supply and demand, as lenders and borrowers submit offers on an onchain order book.