Coinbase brings $5M crypto-backed loans to UK. via Morpho on Base

Coinbase has rolled out its crypto-backed lending service in the United Kingdom, allowing users to borrow up to $5 million in USDC against digital assets.

Coinbase said in a statement on Monday that the new offering lets UK users access loans through Morpho on its Layer 2 network Base, with all loans secured by overcollateralized crypto holdings.

The service currently accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cbETH as collateral. Once pledged, the assets are transferred on-chain into a Morpho smart contract and remain locked until the borrower repays the loan. Users can initiate borrowing directly from the Coinbase app by selecting a collateral asset and choosing how much USDC they want to receive.

Funds are issued “within seconds” after approval, according to the company, and are credited to the user’s Coinbase account, where they can be converted into British pounds or moved elsewhere. Interest rates are not fixed and are calculated automatically by Morpho, adjusting continuously based on market activity and block-by-block conditions on Base.

No set repayment schedule has been introduced for the product. Borrowers can repay partially or in full at any time. Liquidation takes place when the total loan value, including accrued interest, reaches a defined threshold relative to the collateral. Coinbase said users are notified ahead of such events through email and text alerts.

The UK launch follows Coinbase’s earlier rollout of the same service in the United States in January 2025. At the time, borrowing limits were capped at $100,000 and limited to bitcoin-backed loans.

Access has since expanded significantly, both in terms of loan size and supported assets, which now include ETH, XRP, DOGE, ADA, and LTC.

Coinbase reported that total loan originations through the U.S. product on Morpho have surpassed $2.17 billion in USDC as of April 14, 2026. The company indicated that additional country rollouts are already being planned.

AI push runs alongside product expansion

The lending expansion arrives as Coinbase continues to deepen its use of artificial intelligence across internal operations. As previously reported by crypto.news, CEO Brian Armstrong recently said that Coinbase “will have more agents than human employees at some point soon,” hinting to a future where AI plays a central role in the company’s workflow.

Two internal AI systems, named Fred and Balaji, have already been introduced to assist employees with strategy and idea generation. Fred mirrors co-founder Fred Ehrsam’s approach to decision-making, while Balaji is modeled after former CTO Balaji Srinivasan and focuses on challenging assumptions and generating new ideas.

Armstrong has also said, “there will be more AI agents transacting online than humans very soon,” tying the company’s AI strategy closely to its crypto infrastructure. Coinbase has been working to make its workforce “AI-native,” encouraging employees to integrate AI tools into coding, analysis, and communication.

Alongside these efforts, the company launched the x402 protocol in 2025, designed to support payments between AI agents using both crypto and traditional systems.