Circle Allows Institutions To Borrow Stablecoin USDC Against Bitcoin Without Selling BTC

Circle (NYSE: CRCL) has opened a new path for institutions that want dollar liquidity without selling their bitcoin. Through Circle Mint, eligible clients can now pledge BTC as collateral and borrow USDC, keeping their long-term bitcoin exposure intact while tapping onchain credit markets.

The product is called Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing, or DABB.

It is available to qualifying Circle Mint LLC customers on Ethereum and on Arc,

Circle’s recently launched layer-1 network. New York clients are excluded, and access remains subject to jurisdiction and eligibility rules.

The process is designed as a single coordinated workflow.

A customer deposits bitcoin and mints Circle Wrapped Bitcoin, or cirBTC. Each cirBTC token is backed one-to-one by native BTC held in custody at Circle National Trust, a federally chartered trust bank.

Reserves can be verified onchain.

The customer then supplies that cirBTC as collateral through a wallet they control into a supported third-party lending market.

Borrowed USDC is credited directly to the customer’s Circle Mint balance.

Repaying the loan releases the collateral.

Circle does not set the loan terms.

Borrowing rates, collateral ratios, liquidation thresholds, liquidity, and availability are determined by the chosen market and can change.