Bitcoin-backed loans let you unlock your bitcoin’s buying power, without selling your bitcoin. By using bitcoin as collateral, you can access immediate cash liquidity, while maintaining benefits of holding bitcoin for the long-term.
How do bitcoin-backed loans work?
Bitcoin-backed loans involve temporarily pledging your bitcoin as secure collateral and receiving a cash loan, to be repaid with interest. The loan size and required collateral is determined by the Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio – your loan amount compared to your collateral’s value. The larger the loan, the more collateral is required.
Here’s how it works:
- Post bitcoin as collateral: You use your bitcoin as secure collateral for the duration of the loan.
- Receive cash: The cash is delivered to you and begins accruing interest.
- Manage your loan: During your loan, you can track your loan’s health, manage payments, add collateral, or close-out your loan early.
- Repay your loan: At the end of the loan, you pay back your loan with interest.
- Receive your collateral: Upon successful repayment, your bitcoin collateral is returned to you.
Due to bitcoin's price volatility, your collateral’s value fluctuates, directly impacting your LTV ratio. If your collateral’s value falls significantly, the lender’s ability to recover funds could be at risk, which is why certain LTV thresholds are set up to trigger margin calls or liquidations. A margin call is a requirement to lower your LTV by adding collateral or repaying part of your loan in a certain time frame, whereas a liquidation is a forced-sale of your collateral to return your LTV to a lower level, with a liquidation fee applied.
Strike offers market-leading terms with a range of amounts and repayment options for bitcoin-backed loans.
Loan terms:
- Loan term: 12-months
- Loan amount: Minimum $10,000*, no maximum (for $5,000,000+ loans contact private@strike.me)
- Interest: Starting at 9.5% APR**
- Loan types:
- Payment at Maturity: Principal and interest repaid in a single payment at maturity
- Monthly Payments: Interest paid monthly, principal repaid at maturity
- Maximum initial LTV: 50% (inclusive of principal and interest)
- Interest accrual: Daily
- Loan closure: Available on demand 60 days after opening loan
- Origination fee: 0%
- Early repayment fee: 0%
- Late payment fee: 0% (10-day grace period for failed payments)
- Liquidation fee: 0%
- Strike fee: Monthly and maturity payments from your bitcoin balance incur standard bitcoin trading fees, and will count towards your monthly trading volume.
* Minimum loan amounts vary by state for individuals and businesses.
** Rates vary based on loan type and amount. Learn more about rates.
Your loan’s interest rate will remain unchanged for the duration of your loan. Strike may offer updated loan products in the future, including different interest rates or expanded limits. If more favorable loan options become available, you can access them by opening another loan.
Strike partners with trusted capital providers to deliver bitcoin-backed loans with the best possible rates and terms. When you open a loan, your bitcoin collateral is held by Strike or transferred to one of our trusted capital providers, where it is securely held and not re-hypothecated. This means your bitcoin collateral is never lent-out, shorted, or transferred to any other external third party.
You can monitor your collateral amount, value, and status, in your Strike app’s Loan Center at any time. Early loan closures are available on demand, with no fee, starting 60 days after your loan is opened. Once your loan is successfully closed, your collateral will be returned to you within one business day.
Strike is actively working towards providing greater collateral tracking and management features for all bitcoin-backed loans. If you have any questions regarding our current bitcoin-backed loan offering, please contact support@strike.me.
To open a bitcoin-backed loan, ensure you meet the eligibility requirements and have sufficient bitcoin in your Strike account for your intended loan size.
Before you begin:
Prior to opening a loan, familiarize yourself with how bitcoin-backed loans work, including the Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio, how payments work, and margin calls and liquidations.
How to open a bitcoin-backed loan:
To open your loan, ensure your Strike app is up to date, then visit your Strike app’s Cash tab, and select the "Bitcoin-backed loans" card and follow these steps:
- Select loan type: Choose between "Monthly Interest" (interest paid monthly, principal paid at maturity) or "Payment at Maturity" (interest and principal paid at maturity).
- Set loan amount: Adjust the slider to select your desired loan amount, which affects the required collateral and interest cost.
- Set collateral amount: Adjust the slider to set your collateral amount. Remember, adding extra collateral reduces the bitcoin prices at which margin calls and liquidations occur.
- Choose payment source: Select your preferred source for automatically paying your monthly interest (if applicable) and maturity payment.
- Enable notifications: Ensure notifications are enabled for the Strike app to receive important loan updates.
- Preview loan details: Review your loan configuration.
- Review and sign agreement: The loan agreement will be emailed to your account for review. If you accept, return to the Strike app to sign your screen and tap “Initiate loan” to complete the process.
After your loan is opened:
Once your loan is opened, your bitcoin collateral will be immediately debited from your bitcoin balance and the cash will be credited to your cash balance.
On your Cash tab, you’ll find your LTV Tracker, which provides a quick overview of your loan’s health. If you tap your LTV Tracker, you can access your Loan Center where you can monitor and manage your loan. Please note, bitcoin-backed loans from Strike are not reported to credit agencies and do not affect your credit score.
When you open a bitcoin-backed loan, you must repay the loaned amount plus interest. The interest is the cost of your loan and is calculated from the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of the principal amount you are borrowing. Bitcoin-backed loans with Strike have no origination fee, early closure fee, or early repayment fee.
The APR for your loan depends on two main factors:
- Loan type: "Payment at Maturity" loans typically have a higher APR compared to "Monthly Payment" loans, because the monthly interest payments are deferred.
- Loan size: The larger the loan, the lower the rate.
| Loan amount | Interest-Only Monthly Payment | Payment at Maturity |
|---|---|---|
| < $250,000 | 12% (12.68% APR) | 13% APR |
| $250,000 – $750,000 | 11% (11.57% APR) | 12% APR |
| $750,000 – $2,000,000 | 10% (10.47% APR) | 11% APR |
| $2,000,000 – $5,000,000 | 9.75% (10.19% APR) | 10.75% APR |
| $5,000,000 – $10,000,000 | 9.5% (9.92% APR) | 10.5% APR |
| ≥ $10,000,000 | 9.11% (9.5% APR) | 10.5% APR |
Minimum loan amounts vary by state for individuals and businesses. Loans opened on a loan amount threshold will get the lower APR.
To access the largest sized loans (greater than $5,000,000), please contact private@strike.me to arrange a custom loan.
Yes, you can have up to 3 active bitcoin-backed loans at a time.
Opening multiple loans
To open another loan, visit your Strike app’s Cash tab and follow these steps:
- Tap your LTV Tracker to open your Loan Center
- Scroll to the bottom of your Loan Center and tap “Open another loan”
- Follow the process of opening a new loan
Each new loan is subject to the prevailing APR at the time of opening, which may differ from your existing loans. Once set, the APR remains fixed for the duration of that loan.
Please note, you can open only one new loan per day and each of your loans have different terms, uch as Payment at Maturity or Monthly Payments, with varying amounts and APRs. If you already have 3 open loans you’ll need to close one of your active loans before opening another. Loans can be closed 60 days after opening.
Managing multiple loans
Once you have multiple open loans, you can visit your Strike app’s Cash screen to manage your loans:
- Swipe left or right on your LTV Tracker to view your individual loans
- Tap on any of your LTV trackers to access the Loan Center for that specific loan.
Within each loan center, you can manage collateral, schedule or make payments, and track the LTV ratio. To stay organized, you can rename your loans by tapping the loan name located above the LTV percentage. This name will appear in all related app notifications and emails, helping you distinguish between loans easily.
Bitcoin-backed loans are currently available to fully verified users and eligible businesses in select U.S. states. Availability and minimum loan amounts vary by user type and location.
- Individuals: Must be a resident in a supported state
- Businesses: Must be registered in a supported state
Loan availability and minimums by state
If your state isn’t listed or no minimum appears, bitcoin-backed loans are not currently available for individuals or businesses in that state.
| State | Minimum amount (Individuals) | Minimum amount (Businesses) |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Alaska | $26,000 | — |
| Arizona | $11,000 | $10,000 |
| Arkansas | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| California | $10,000 | — |
| Colorado | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Connecticut | $51,000 | $10,000 |
| D.C. | $26,000 | $10,000 |
| Delaware | — | $10,000 |
| Florida | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Georgia | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Idaho | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Illinois | $41,000 | $10,000 |
| Indiana | $72,000 | $10,000 |
| Iowa | $10,000* | $10,000 |
| Kansas | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Kentucky | $16,000 | $10,000 |
| Louisiana | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Maine | $250,000 | $10,000 |
| Maryland | $26,000 | $10,000 |
| Massachusetts | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Michigan | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Minnesota | $100,000 | $10,000 |
| Mississippi | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Missouri | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Montana | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Nebraska | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| New Hampshire | $11,000 | $10,000 |
| New Jersey | $51,000 | $10,000 |
| New Mexico | $11,000 | $10,000 |
| North Carolina | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| North Dakota | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Ohio | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Oklahoma | $10,000* | $10,000 |
| Oregon | $51,000 | $10,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $26,000 | $10,000 |
| Puerto Rico | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Rhode Island | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| South Carolina | $130,000 | $10,000 |
| Tennessee | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Texas | — | $10,000 |
| Utah | $51,000 | $10,000 |
| Vermont | $10,000 | — |
| Virginia | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| Washington | — | $10,000 |
| West Virginia | $46,000 | $10,000 |
| Wisconsin | $26,000 | $10,000 |
| Wyoming | $10,000 | $10,000 |
*$72k minimum for monthly interest payment loans
Don’t see the loan option in your app?
Bitcoin-backed loans are accessible in the Strike mobile app. If you're in a supported state but don't see the "Bitcoin-backed loans" card in your Cash tab:
- Update your app: Ensure your Strike app is updated to the latest version.
- Verify your account: Confirm that your Strike account is fully verified.
Stay in the loop
Strike may expand loan availability to more regions in the future. Follow Strike on social media for the latest updates.
Yes, eligible businesses in select U.S. states can open a bitcoin-backed loan within the Strike app. Bitcoin-backed loans let your business access cash liquidity by posting bitcoin as secure collateral, to be returned upon successful completion of the loan.
Learn more about bitcoin-backed loans.
What rates and terms are available for businesses?
Bitcoin-backed loans for businesses are available with market leading terms:
- Loan term: 12-months
- Loan amount: Minimum $10,000*, no maximum (for loans above $5,000,000 reach out to private@strike.me)
- Interest: Starting at 9.5% APR**
- Loan types:
- Monthly Payments: Interest paid monthly, principal repaid at maturity
- Payment at Maturity: Principal and interest repaid in a single payment at maturity
- Maximum initial LTV: 50% (inclusive of principal and interest)
- Interest accrual: Daily
- Loan closure: Available on demand 60 days after opening loan
- Origination fee: 0%
- Early repayment fee: 0%
- Late payment fee: 0% (10-day grace period for failed payments)
- Liquidation fee: 0%
- Strike fee: Monthly and maturity payments from your bitcoin balance incur standard bitcoin trading fees, and will count towards your monthly trading volume.
* Minimum loan amounts vary by state for individuals and businesses.
** Rates vary based on loan type and amount. Learn more about rates.
Please note, bitcoin-backed loans from Strike are not reported to credit agencies and do not affect your credit score. Currently, opening and managing a loan is only available in the Strike mobile app.
State-specific disclosures may apply depending on your location — see below.
State-Specific Disclosures:
Washington
Vermont
THIS IS A LOAN SOLICITATION ONLY. ZAP SOLUTIONS CAPITAL, INC. IS NOT THE LENDER. INFORMATION RECEIVED WILL BE SHARED WITH ONE OR MORE THIRD PARTIES IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR LOAN INQUIRY. THE LENDER MAY NOT BE SUBJECT TO ALL VERMONT LENDING LAWS. THE LENDER MAY BE SUBJECT TO FEDERAL LENDING LAWS.