OKX launches flexible USDC loans in Europe

OKX has launched crypto-backed USDC loans in Europe, allowing customers to borrow up to 250,000 USDC, or 3.25 million USDC for VIP clients, without a fixed repayment term.

OKX said in its Oct. 9 announcement that European customers could access Flexible Loans through its app or website, using crypto already held on the platform as security for USDC borrowing.

With Bitcoin, Ether and Solana among the accepted assets, the company said each loan would be backed by collateral worth more than the amount borrowed. Its announced borrowing ceiling is 80% of the pledged assets’ value, alongside separate limits for regular customers and VIP clients.

OKX loans charge hourly interest without a fixed term

Under the launch terms, OKX allows borrowers to choose when to repay rather than committing to a set maturity date. Customers can make partial repayments or settle the full balance, the exchange said.

At the time of the announcement, OKX listed USDC interest at 0.000229% per hour, describing that as about 2% a year. The company said borrowers could check the live rate before accepting a loan and continue monitoring it in the app while the debt remained outstanding.

For updated borrowing costs, the exchange directed customers to its rate page, rather than presenting the launch rate as a fixed charge for the life of a loan.

Explaining the product’s intended use, Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, said long-term holders sometimes wanted access to cash while retaining their crypto.

“A lot of people in Europe hold crypto for the long term and don’t want to have to sell it to free up cash temporarily,” Ghoos said.

He described the repayment model as: “Borrow USDC when you need it, pay for the hours you use it, and repay when you’re done.”

For the borrowed funds, OKX listed trading, participation in X Drop Club, and use through Earn among the available options. Customers could also withdraw their USDC for everyday needs, according to the announcement.

Collateral remains locked and can be liquidated

In its European loan service terms, updated Sep. 30, OKX identifies OKX Europe Limited as the operator and limits the service to European Economic Area residents.

The agreement says loan requests are matched with assets supplied by lenders on the platform, with approved proceeds transferred to the borrower’s OKX funding account. According to the terms, pledged collateral is frozen, preventing borrowers from trading or transferring it while it secures the debt.

For repayment, the agreement says accrued interest is paid before principal when a customer makes a partial payment. OKX also states that full repayment of principal and interest releases the corresponding collateral within one day, while partial repayment does not release it.

When a position reaches the applicable liquidation threshold, the terms authorize OKX to sell collateral to repay the debt. The agreement warns that rapid price changes or technical delays can leave customers without advance notification before automatic liquidation.

On regulation, OKX’s terms explicitly state that the loan service falls outside MiCA’s scope and that the framework’s client asset safeguarding protections do not apply to assets connected with it.

USDC trading and payments already feature in OKX products

As crypto.news previously reported, Circle and OKX expanded USDC trading access on Sep. 2 across spot, margin and futures markets for eligible customers.

According to that report, the companies also introduced a USDC Margin Growth Program offering qualifying users a monthly 100 USDC reward funded by Circle. Eligibility required opting in, maintaining at least 20,000 USDC for 17 consecutive days, and exceeding 1,000 USDC in qualifying single-side trading volume.

The September report also described OKX’s July introduction of a one-way USDT-to-USDC conversion route for eligible customers across 30 EU and EEA countries. Under its European setup, the exchange restricted USDT trading while supporting USDC and Paxos-issued USDG.

In a separate Oct. 6 launch, OKX introduced OKX Money, an app supporting funding from more than 50 currencies and balances in USDG, USDC and USDT, according to the company.

OKX said that rollout covered selected markets in Latin America, Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, with local funding and card availability depending on country. The company described virtual and physical cards, transfers and rewards as features of the app.

For its European platform, Ghoos placed borrowing alongside payments and investing, describing OKX Card and Pay as tools “To pay, or get paid.” His launch comments also listed trading products covering crypto, traditional assets and commodities among the platform’s wealth services.

U.S. borrowers have separate crypto-backed loan options

For American holders, earlier Coinbase products provide a separate example of borrowing USDC against crypto. An Oct. 7 report on Ledger’s Bitcoin-backed borrowing through Morpho described Coinbase’s earlier borrowing rollout to most U.S. states, excluding New York at launch.

According to the report, Coinbase converts pledged Bitcoin into cbBTC and sends the token to a Morpho smart contract on Base. Coinbase describes cbBTC as backed one-for-one by Bitcoin held in its custody.

Morpho separately announced on Sep. 22 that Coinbase had added fixed-rate loans through Morpho Midnight, allowing customers to agree on an interest rate and repayment date when borrowing USDC against Bitcoin. Morpho said Coinbase’s existing variable-rate service had more than $1.4 billion in active loans backed by approximately $3 billion in collateral.

For Ledger’s own Oct. 7 product, the wallet maker said eligible customers could pledge cbBTC or wBTC to borrow USDC or USDT, with access depending on country. Ledger said Morpho supplied the lending infrastructure, while Yield.xyz handled the borrowing process and position monitoring inside Ledger Wallet.