Coinbase lets eligible US users borrow USDC using tokenized gold as collateral

Coinbase has introduced a new borrowing option for eligible users, allowing them to take loans in USDC while using tokenized gold as collateral. The feature is aimed at customers who want liquidity without liquidating their existing holdings of gold-linked tokens.

According to a report by Yahoo Finance, the program allows Coinbase users in the United States to borrow USDC against PAX Gold, a tokenized form of gold. The borrowing is structured so that customers do not need to sell their tokenized gold positions to access cash-like stablecoin funding.

The same report says the offering is available to eligible users in the US excluding New York. It also indicates that the loans run through Morpho, a decentralized lending platform, suggesting that Coinbase is integrating stablecoin loans with third-party lending infrastructure rather than running the lending pool itself.

The announcement ties together several products in the crypto ecosystem: USDC, a dollar-pegged stablecoin used for settlement and borrowing; PAX Gold, a token intended to represent ownership exposure to physical gold; and Morpho, which facilitates lending arrangements. The combination is designed to let customers convert the economic exposure of tokenized assets into usable liquidity in the form of USDC.

While the report frames the change as a new capability for Coinbase customers, it does not detail key loan mechanics such as the specific collateral-to-loan parameters, loan term lengths, interest rate ranges, or liquidation thresholds. It also does not specify whether Coinbase provides direct customer risk controls, margin monitoring tools, or any guidance on how users should manage repayment and collateral risk.

In broader sector terms, the move reflects an ongoing shift toward “tokenized asset” collateral. Stablecoin borrowing against assets such as tokenized treasuries, equities exposure, and tokenized commodities has become one of the more common use cases in decentralized finance, because it can reduce the friction of exchanging assets for cash.

For Coinbase, offering borrowing against tokenized gold can broaden engagement beyond spot trading by creating an alternative financial activity within its app. It also increases the usefulness of tokenized assets held by customers, potentially improving stickiness for users who already hold PAX Gold but want access to USDC for other purposes.

As with many crypto lending products, the largest remaining uncertainty is the exact risk profile and the terms that govern user outcomes. Based on the publicly reported information, Coinbase did not disclose in the post what the borrowing costs and repayment conditions are, nor did it provide granular information on collateral volatility handling in the New York excluded region or how the program scales across different account types.