Eligible institutional clients of Circle Mint can now obtain USDC loans using Bitcoin as collateral through Morpho on the Arc and Ethereum networks. The cirBTC market on Arc grew to $14.3 million in borrowed USDC against 287 cirBTC on Sept. 21, compared to $1.37 million on Sept. 17. This facility provides 1:1 BTC-backed liquidity, allowing borrowers to unlock funds by minting cirBTC without selling their original holdings.

Borrowing terms for the service are market-dependent and carry liquidation risk for the customer-controlled wallets providing collateral. Circle plans to add further lending integrations, including support for Aave, to the borrowing program. Customers located in New York are excluded from participating in the Bitcoin-backed service.