Ready offers “collateralised borrowing” feature. You can borrow USD against BTC. In this article, we call these “collateral assets”.
What is collateralised borrowing?
Collateralised borrowing lets you deposit an asset (BTC) as collateral and borrow another asset (USD) against it without selling your crypto.
Borrowing means locking your collateral assets as guarantee for the loan. You still own it, but can’t use it until the loan is repaid.
Example: Locking $10K worth of collateral assets could let you borrow anywhere from $100 to $7,400 (Up to 74% of the collateral value).
To keep the loan safe, the amount you borrow should stay below the value of your collateral.
How do I start borrowing USD?
3 Easy steps.
- Choose how much USD you want to borrow.
- Adjust your BTC collateral if needed.
- Review and execute the borrow.
How do I repay the loan?
Unlike a traditional loan, there are no fixed monthly repayments. You can pay back the full amount—or any portion of it—whenever you like.
You repay the borrowed USD (plus interest) to get back your collateral assets.
Partial repayments reduce your debt and LTV and therefore risk of liquidation.
What happens if BTC price drops?
BTC price can be volatile. If the value drops significantly, your collateral could be sold to cover the loan. This might cost you some or all of your collateral assets.
Example: If BTC drops by 28%, your $10K collateral falls to $6,400—hitting the liquidation threshold. At that point, it’ll be automatically sold to repay your $5K USDC loan.
How can I protect my collateral?
To prevent your position to get liquidated — stay cautious.
We recommend borrowing within a safe range. It’s also really important to keep an eye on the BTC price and be ready to repay quickly or add more collateral if needed.
We can alert you right away if your position becomes risky. Enable notifications.
What’s the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio?
Your Loan-to-Value (LTV) tells you how safe your loan is. It’s the ratio between the value of your loan and the value of your collateral assets.
The lower your LTV, the safer your collateral assets.
Example: Locking $10K in collateral, to stay cautious borrow up to $2,600 USD which equals 26% LTV.
What are the interest rates?
Borrowing Rate: You’ll pay an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 1.62% on the borrowed USD, accrued monthly. This interest is added to your total debt each month.
Earning Rate on Collateral: Your collateral asset earns an Annual Percentage Yield (APY), also accrued monthly. Rewards are distributed in STRK tokens, which you can redeem every week. (Note: there is a second way to earn yield on your bitcoin, by staking it on the Starknet network)
What fees apply?
Ready and Vesu do not charge liquidation or withdrawal fees. The purpose of liquidation is to ensure that the protocol doesn't incur losses, not to generate a fee.
A small network fee is incurred per every transaction.
What is the minimum or maximum I can borrow?
Minimum Borrowing Amount: 100 USDC
Maximum Borrowing Amount: There’s no fixed cap, but the amount you can borrow is limited by your collateral. You can borrow up to 74% of the USD value of your WBTC, based on real-time market prices.
Is my BTC safe?
Collateral asset is held in a secure smart contract.
Can I lose my BTC?
Yes, in case of liquidation. If the collateral asset price drops and you don’t repay or top up in time, some or all of your WBTC may be sold to cover the debt.
Can I repay early?
Yes, you can repay any amount at any time with no penalties.
Can I top up or withdraw collateral assets?
Top-up: Yes, to reduce LTV or avoid liquidation.
Withdraw: Only if it doesn’t breach LTV limits.
Whats the liquidation threshold?
The liquidation threshold for BTC/USD is at 78% LTV. You can opt-in to notifications, so we can alert you before this happens.
How does liquidation work?
Part of your collateral assets is sold automatically to ensure that the protocol doesn't incur losses.
Can I borrow more USD later?
Yes.
Can I borrow against other assets?
Not at this moment, but we are planning to add more assets that can be used as collateral in the future.