Strike's Bitcoin Lending: Borrow Against Your Bitcoin Without Selling

Strike just made it possible to turn your Bitcoin into cash without actually selling it. In May 2025, the company building the bitcoin everything app launched Strike Lending, allowing users to borrow between $10,000 and $5 million and above (if you reach out to the Strike Private team) against their Bitcoin holdings.

The premise is straightforward: put up Bitcoin as collateral, get USD in return, and avoid the tax hit that comes with selling. But like most financial products that sound simple, the details matter.

How Strike's Bitcoin Lending Works

Strike Lending operates on a 50% loan-to-value ratio, meaning you can borrow up to half your Bitcoin's current value. Interest rates start at 12% APR with 12-month terms. You can either make monthly interest payments or pay everything back at the end.

The collateral gets held by third-party custodians during the loan term, though Strike retains legal responsibility. If Bitcoin's price drops and your loan approaches the liquidation threshold, you can add more collateral to maintain your position.

There are no origination fees, early repayment penalties, or credit score impacts. The feature is currently available in select U.S. states through the Strike app.

The Market Context

Strike's entry comes as crypto lending slowly recovers from the 2022 meltdown that took down BlockFi, Celsius, and others. Centralized crypto lenders held $9.9 billion in loans as of early 2025—down 43% from the 2021 peak but climbing back up.

Jack Mallers, Strike's founder, frames this as essential infrastructure for Bitcoin holders. "You shouldn't have to sell the best-performing asset to access liquidity", he argued when announcing the feature. By the Bitcoin 2025 conference in late May, Strike had already adjusted rates to 9-13%, suggesting competitive pressure or improved risk assessment.

The Trade-offs

Strike's terms are conservative compared to competitors. Arch Lending, for example, offers 60% loan-to-value ratios and two-year terms. Strike's 50% LTV and 12-month maximum give borrowers less leverage and shorter runway.

The 12% starting rate is particularly competitive, and it's moved lower quickly since launch. Traditional securities-backed lending often comes in under 10% for less volatile collateral.

What Strike offers is simplicity and integration. If you're already using Strike for Lightning payments or Bitcoin purchases, adding lending feels natural. The user experience is very streamlined compared to standalone lending platforms.

Real-World Use Cases

The $75,000 minimum puts this squarely in wealth management territory. Small Bitcoin holders need not apply. This targets people with substantial Bitcoin positions who want liquidity for real estate purchases, business investments, or other major expenses without triggering taxable events.

For businesses holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets, the feature could provide operational flexibility while maintaining crypto exposure. The tax advantages alone make this attractive for many institutional users.

Looking Forward

Mallers has suggested rates could drop further into single digits as Bitcoin's volatility decreases and the lending market matures. That's optimistic but not unreasonable—traditional asset-backed lending benefits from scale and competition.

The bigger question is whether Bitcoin lending can avoid the pitfalls that destroyed previous crypto lenders. Strike's approach—using established custodians and conservative LTV ratios—suggests lessons learned from 2022's failures.

For Bitcoin holders with substantial positions, Strike Lending offers a straightforward way to access liquidity without selling. The terms aren't the most aggressive available, but they're conservative enough to potentially avoid the spectacular failures that marked crypto lending's recent past. Whether that conservatism represents prudence or missed opportunity depends largely on your risk tolerance and timeline.