Coinbase Allows USDC Loans With PAX Gold as Collateral
Coinbase is expanding its USDC lending product with PAX Gold through Morpho Blue on Base. For the first time, a tokenized precious metal counts as collateral.
Key Takeaways
- Since November 6, 2026, Coinbase has offered USDC loans with PAX Gold as collateral through a new USDC|PAXG market on Morpho Blue on Base.
- It is the first time Coinbase’s lending program has accepted collateral that is not a crypto asset; users can borrow USDC without selling their gold position.
- With this gold market, Morpho is further expanding its lending offering; the protocol manages about $3.4 billion in collateral and more than $1.7 billion in active loans.
Since November 6, 2026, Coinbase has offered USDC loans with PAX Gold (PAXG) as collateral. For the first time, that means the lending program accepts collateral that is not a crypto asset. The loans run through a new USDC|PAXG market on Morpho Blue on Base.
Gold as Collateral
In the announcement, Coinbase says users can borrow USDC directly against PAX Gold on Coinbase without selling their position. PAXG is tokenized gold from Paxos, with each token backed by real gold. Coinbase presents the service as a way to unlock liquidity from gold holdings while the user keeps the collateral in place.
For users, the setup is pretty simple. Morpho provides the lending liquidity, while Coinbase handles the app and customer access. The interest rate is variable and depends on the market on Morpho Blue. No fixed term has been published, and settlement follows the protocol’s usual LTV mechanics.
Morpho Expands
Coinbase and Morpho have been working together for a while now. In January 2025, the partnership started with USDC loans against Bitcoin as collateral, and Ethereum, XRP, and Solana were later added too. The new gold market fits into that broader expansion, with the platform supporting more and more types of collateral.
Morpho itself has now become a bigger player in decentralized lending. The protocol manages about $3.4 billion (€3 billion) in collateral and has more than $1.7 billion (€1.5 billion) in active loans. That shows there is already strong demand for this kind of lending product, even beyond the usual crypto collateral.
What This Means for Users
For European crypto followers, the main takeaway is that this is a step toward broader acceptance of real-world assets as collateral within crypto. It shows that stablecoin loans are no longer just about Bitcoin or other tokens, but also about tokenized assets like gold. For U.S. users, access is still limited to those who qualify; New York residents are reportedly excluded.