Coinbase said its bitcoin-backed lending program has accumulated more than $1 billion in pledged collateral, underscoring growing appetite for borrowing against the largest cryptocurrency rather than selling it near record prices. The platform, which runs on Coinbase’s Base layer-2 network and relies on lending infrastructure from Morpho Labs, has extended about $450 million in active loans since the start of the year. The milestone suggests increasing institutional and retail confidence in bitcoin’s long-term value, as holders leverage the asset to obtain liquidity without triggering taxable sales. Coinbase executives added that the collateral pool represents only a fraction of customer bitcoin balances, indicating further capacity for growth if demand persists.