Coinbase Rolls Out Fixed-Rate Bitcoin Loans Powered by Morpho Protocol

Coinbase announced Tuesday a fixed-rate lending product allowing users to borrow USDC against Bitcoin, with interest rates and repayment dates locked in at origination. The launch marks the first enterprise-scale deployment of Morpho Midnight, a protocol version supporting fixed rates and defined maturities, with settlement on Coinbase's Base network. The product departs from the variable-rate model dominating on-chain lending, where borrowing costs float with market conditions. It sits alongside Coinbase's existing variable-rate loans, also powered by Morpho. Coinbase's Bitcoin-backed lending business now exceeds $1.4 billion in active loans, backed by roughly $3 billion in collateral, according to Morpho. The offering has expanded since its early-2025 launch to accept XRP and Dogecoin as collateral. The push has faced turbulence: a sharp drop in Bitcoin and Ethereum prices in February drove record liquidations across Coinbase's loan book, highlighting risks of borrowing against volatile collateral. Morpho said the protocol may eventually support tokenized stocks and real-world assets.