Eligibility
Who we work with
We work with holders of size and the advisers who act for them: family offices, founders and early employees with concentrated positions, companies holding bitcoin in treasury, miners, funds, estates and executors, and high-net-worth individuals. Our current working minimums are US$100,000 for crypto-backed loans and US$250,000 for crypto OTC trades. Every placement involves identity verification and anti-money-laundering checks by the lender or desk.
Key takeaways
- Working minimums: US$100,000 for loans, US$250,000 for crypto OTC trades. Meeting a minimum does not mean an enquiry will be placed; the lender or desk decides.
- Assets in scope. Bitcoin, ether, the major stablecoins USDC and USDT, and spot bitcoin or ether ETF shares. Other tokens and lending crypto out for a return are not.
- Not directed at UK retail consumers. We do not market to persons in Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam or the Philippines.
- Built for size, not for retail. The client types are family offices, founders and early employees with concentrated positions, treasury companies, miners, funds, estates and executors, and the advisers acting for them.
- Lenders and desks publish their own client criteria. Those criteria, not ours, decide where an enquiry can go.
Client types
The service is built for positions large enough that how a loan is secured, or how a sale is executed, matters in money terms. Each client type brings its own questions for a lender or desk.
| Client | Common reason to enquire | What the lender or desk looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Family office | Liquidity against a long-held bitcoin position; buying or selling in size | Ownership and control of the entity; the signatory's authority |
| Founder or early employee | Borrowing against a concentrated position instead of selling it | Source of the holding; any transfer restriction |
| Company with bitcoin in treasury | A credit facility secured on treasury bitcoin; corporate purchases or sales | Board authority, financial statements, beneficial owners |
| Bitcoin miner | Financing against mined bitcoin; selling production | Treasury and, for some lenders, site and infrastructure assets |
| Fund | Financing or execution for the fund's holdings | Fund documents and the manager's authority |
| Estate or executor | Selling inherited bitcoin; liquidity for estate costs | Evidence of authority, such as a grant of probate or letters testamentary |
| High-net-worth individual | Borrowing against bitcoin or ether without selling; buying or selling in size | Identity, source of funds and source of wealth |
| Adviser acting for a client | An introduction on the client's behalf | The client's own checks; the client contracts, not the adviser |
| A general description. Galaxy, for example, describes its miner financing as typically secured by miner treasuries and site and infrastructure assets (Galaxy, accessed September 2026). | ||
Retail-sized borrowing is not what this service is for. Some lenders publish minimums of US$5,000 or less on their own websites, and a borrower at that size can go to them directly. Individuals, family offices and trusts borrowing at larger sizes will find the custody, entity and tax questions in crypto loans for high-net-worth individuals. Advisers should read crypto loan referrals for advisers.
Working minimums
Our current working minimums are US$100,000 for a crypto-backed loan and US$250,000 for a crypto OTC trade, measured by the loan amount sought or the trade size. A minimum is a floor for an enquiry, not a promise: an enquiry above it is placed only if a lender's or desk's own criteria fit.
Lenders and desks segment their clients too, and publish it:
| Firm | What it publishes |
|---|---|
| Unchained | Commercial loans only, with a US$150,000 minimum; financing of US$5 million or more goes to an institutional lending desk for family offices, funds and institutional borrowers |
| Two Prime | Loans for institutional borrowers; lists corporate treasuries, public bitcoin miners, family offices, RIAs, institutional allocators and high-net-worth individuals; publishes no loan sizes |
| Galaxy | Its lending desk serves qualifying institutions, accredited individuals and corporations |
| River | A private client service for bitcoin purchases of US$100,000 or more |
| Kraken | An OTC desk minimum of US$50,000 in its support article and US$100,000 on its bitcoin OTC page |
| B2C2 | States that it does not deal with or serve retail investors or consumers |
| Each firm's own pages, accessed 19 September 2026. Criteria change and are set only by the lender or desk. Naming a firm is not a ranking or a recommendation and implies no relationship with Crypto Loans HQ: see how we are paid. | |
Assets in scope
The scope is deliberately narrow: the assets that lenders and desks accept most widely, and nothing that depends on a token issuer's survival.
| Asset | Loans | Crypto OTC trades |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | In scope | In scope |
| Ether (ETH) | In scope; some lenders take bitcoin only | In scope |
| USDC, USDT | As loan proceeds, where the lender pays them | In scope |
| Spot bitcoin or ether ETF shares | In scope; securities-based lending rules apply | Not covered: listed shares trade through a broker |
| Any other token | Out of scope | Out of scope |
| Vested, locked or unlisted tokens | Out of scope | Out of scope |
| Lending crypto out for a return | Out of scope | Not applicable |
| Unsecured or no-collateral loans | Out of scope | Not applicable |
| Ledn, Unchained and Xapo Bank state that they lend against bitcoin only; Figure, Arch and Galaxy's line of credit accept ether (each firm's own pages, accessed September 2026). | ||
The SEC approved the listing of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products on 10 January 2024 and of spot ether products on 23 May 2024. Their shares are securities, so borrowing against them is securities-based lending: FINRA describes securities-backed lines of credit as non-purpose loans that cannot fund securities purchases, and as demand loans a lender may call at any time. Questions on that route are covered by Securities Backed Lending; the ether side is on borrow against Ethereum.
Where we do not market
This website is not directed at retail consumers in the United Kingdom, or at any person in a jurisdiction where the introductions it describes would be unlawful. Since 8 October 2023, promoting cryptoassets to UK consumers has been lawful only through one of four routes set by the FCA, and a breach is a criminal offence that also reaches firms overseas.
We do not market to persons in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam or the Philippines, and publish no pages aimed at them.
Lenders draw their own lines, and theirs decide where an enquiry can go. Xapo Bank states that its lending is not available to residents of the United Kingdom or Australia. Arch lists US states whose residents it does not lend to, and Galaxy offers its line of credit in 40 US states (each firm's own pages, accessed September 2026).
What we will ask for
At the enquiry stage, only your name, your email address and a message. It helps if the message says what you hold, roughly how much, whether you want to borrow or trade, where you live or your entity is established, and what kind of client you are. Before anything is shared with a lender or desk, we ask you by email to agree to it and to confirm your eligibility.
During qualification we may ask how the asset is held today (an exchange, a custodian, self-custody, or a brokerage account for ETF shares), what a loan is for, and which person or entity would sign.
The lender or desk asks for the rest through its own onboarding: identity documents, beneficial ownership, and source of funds and wealth. See identity and anti-money-laundering checks.
We never ask for a seed phrase, private key, password or two-factor code, and never ask you to send crypto assets to Crypto Loans HQ.
General information, not advice. This page describes who Crypto Loans HQ works with and what lenders and desks publish about their own criteria. It is not an offer to lend, to arrange a loan on particular terms, or to buy or sell any asset, and it is not investment, legal or tax advice. Terms and eligibility are set only by the lender or desk. How we are paid.
Next steps
Process
How it works
The six stages from enquiry to funding or settlement.
See the stages →For advisers
Referrals from advisers
How an adviser refers a client, and what stays confidential.
Read the adviser page →Disclosure
How we are paid
Where compensation can come from, and the conflicts.
Read the disclosure →- Crypto-backed loans
- Bitcoin-backed loans
- Bitcoin treasury financing
- Sell bitcoin OTC
- Large bitcoin purchases
Primary sources
- Unchained: Loans (accessed 19 September 2026)
- Two Prime: Lending
- Galaxy: Lending
- Galaxy: GalaxyOne Crypto Portfolio Line of Credit (25 August 2026)
- River: Private client
- Kraken: Introducing the Kraken OTC desk and Kraken: Bitcoin OTC
- B2C2
- Xapo Bank: Borrow and Arch: General FAQs
- FCA: Marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers
- SEC: Statement on the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products (10 January 2024) and Release No. 34-100224 (23 May 2024)
- FINRA: Securities-backed lines of credit
Eligibility questions
Is there a minimum loan or trade size?
Yes. The current working minimums are US$100,000 for a crypto-backed loan and US$250,000 for a crypto OTC trade, and enquiries below them are not taken further. An enquiry above them is placed only if a lender's or desk's own criteria fit, and that firm decides.
Which assets are in scope?
Bitcoin, ether, the major stablecoins USDC and USDT, and spot bitcoin or ether ETF shares. ETF shares are securities, so borrowing against them follows securities-based lending rules. Other tokens, vested or locked tokens, unsecured loans and lending crypto out for a return are out of scope.
Do you work with UK residents?
This website is not directed at retail consumers in the United Kingdom. Whether any other UK enquiry can go further depends on who is enquiring and on the lender's or desk's own rules, and some lenders state that they do not lend to UK residents at all.
Can I enquire on behalf of a client?
Yes. Say in the enquiry that you are an adviser acting for a client and describe the client's position; the client need not be named at first. The client contracts directly with the lender or desk and goes through its identity checks.
Do you arrange unsecured crypto loans?
No. Every loan covered here is collateralized by bitcoin, ether or spot ETF shares. Unsecured loans, no-collateral loans and DeFi flash loans are outside the service.
Private enquiries
If the size and the asset fit, send the details.
Loans from US$100,000 against bitcoin, ether or spot ETF shares, and crypto OTC trades from US$250,000. We check the enquiry against lenders' and desks' published criteria; the lender or desk decides.