Coinbase adds fixed-rate bitcoin-backed loans through Morpho Midnight

Coinbase has begun offering fixed-rate bitcoin-backed loans through Morpho Midnight, letting users borrow USDC with the interest rate and repayment date locked in when the loan is taken out. The new option sits alongside the exchange's existing variable-rate borrowing, which runs on Morpho Blue.

Coinbase's Morpho Blue-based lending has grown to more than $1.4 billion outstanding, supported by roughly $3 billion in collateral, the company said. With the addition, Coinbase users can now pick between fixed-rate and variable-rate onchain loans.

Morpho launched Midnight on Base in July to bring fixed rates and defined loan terms to onchain lending, a market where borrowing costs have generally floated. A Morpho spokesperson said Coinbase is the first major consumer platform to offer loans through Midnight at scale. Market makers also use the protocol, and Tenor Labs launched a lending platform built on Midnight in July.

Midnight holds around $30 million in deposits as it rolls out, according to the spokesperson. Morpho Blue, the company's variable-rate protocol, carries $5.2 billion in outstanding loans and $16 billion in deposits across all integrations — figures covering the wider Morpho network rather than Coinbase alone.

Rates and repayment terms

A Coinbase spokesperson declined to disclose the interest rates offered to Midnight borrowers, saying they are set by supply and demand as lenders and borrowers post offers on an onchain order book. Coinbase currently offers loans maturing at the end of the current month or the end of the following month, with "End of Month" defined as the last Friday of that month. Borrowers must repay before the maturity date; if a loan goes unpaid, the lender holds a claim on the collateral the borrower posted.

"Coinbase Borrow gives our customers access to liquidity without having to sell their assets, and fixed-rate borrowing gives them even greater choice over how they manage that credit," said Jacob Frantz, yield and investments product lead at Coinbase.

Under the arrangement, Coinbase manages the app experience, Morpho supplies the lending protocol, and transactions settle on Base. Morpho said Midnight could also be used to build structured credit products and loans backed by tokenized real-world assets. Further integrations are expected, though the spokesperson declined to name the firms involved or give a timeline.