Figure releases 8-point evaluation framework for crypto-backed loans as 2026 market matures

Remember 2022.

Celsius. Voyager. BlockFi.

Millions of crypto holders woke up one morning to find their coins… gone.

Not stolen.

Not hacked.

Just lent out, rehypothecated, and vaporized by the very platforms that promised to keep them safe.

Fast forward to 2026.

The crypto-backed loan market is back — bigger, slicker, and finally regulated.

But here's the catch nobody's talking about. 👇

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🎭 Every lender now looks identical

Same landing pages.

Same "borrow against your BTC without selling!" pitch.

Same suspiciously low headline rates.

And that's exactly the problem.

A single number on a homepage tells you almost nothing about whether your Bitcoin will still exist in 12 months.

So Figure just dropped an 8-point framework to help borrowers cut through the noise.

It's worth memorising.

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⚡ The 8 questions that separate survivors from landmines

• 💸 Rate — fixed or variable? And what's the real APR with every fee baked in?
• 🪙 Collateral — which coins, at what loan-to-value?
• 🔐 Custody — on-chain, off-chain, or segregated wallet you can actually verify?
• ⏳ Liquidation — do you get a cure window, or instant algorithmic execution?
• 🛡️ Protection — is downside hedging on the table, and what does it not cover?
• 📜 Licensing — which named entity is lending you the money, and is it on NMLS?
• 🚨 Rehypothecation — can they secretly lend your coins to someone else?
• 🕰️ Track record — how many cycles has this lender actually survived?

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🧠 The one question almost nobody asks

Rehypothecation.

It's the boring word that detonated the last cycle.

Your Bitcoin gets quietly reused to fund the lender's own bets.

Looks like nothing.

Until the day it's everything.

If a lender gives you a vague answer here — that vagueness is the answer.

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🎯 The new playbook

Figure's own product shows where the industry's heading:

• 8.91% rate (9.999% APR) at 50% LTV
• Collateral held in MPC custody wallets on the native chain — private keys shattered across multiple node providers
• You can verify your coins on-chain. Anytime.
• Loans originated through licensed, bankruptcy-remote entities

The collateral lives on Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana itself — not on some lender's spreadsheet.

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🌊 The bigger shift

Crypto lending isn't dying.

It's growing up.

The winners of this cycle won't be the ones with the flashiest yield.

They'll be the ones still standing when the next drawdown hits.

And the borrowers who win?

The ones who asked the boring questions before they needed the answers.

That's all for now!