Alpen Is Bringing USDC to Bitcoin Finance—So Holders Can Borrow Without Selling

Bitcoin holders looking for dollar liquidity face a familiar choice: sell some $BTC or borrow against it. Alpen wants to make the second option part of a financial system built around Bitcoin.

The company announced that it plans to integrate Circle-issued $USDC and Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol, or CCTP, when its mainnet launches later this year. $USDC would provide the dollar side of lending and trading markets built around native $BTC.

The proposition is straightforward: use Bitcoin as collateral to access dollars while retaining exposure to $BTC. Alpen says its architecture is designed to support those applications while keeping the underlying Bitcoin on Bitcoin.

Who Is Building Alpen?

Alpen Labs, the company building the platform, was founded in 2022 by four MIT alumni and is led by CEO Simanta Gautam. It develops Bitcoin infrastructure intended to support financial applications, including payments, lending and trading.

The company has disclosed $19.1 million across two funding rounds: a $10.6 million seed round and an $8.5 million strategic round announced in January 2025. Its backers include Ribbit Capital, Castle Island Ventures, DBA and Cyber Fund, giving it venture support as it works toward mainnet and commercial adoption.