Borrow Against Crypto Without Selling: Which Assets and How Much
Which crypto assets you can borrow against and how much each supports: ETH, BTC, stablecoins, altcoins, liquid staking tokens and NFTs, with the LTV ranges and liquidation maths for each.
Last updated: 30 July 2026
The appeal of borrowing against crypto is easy to state: you get liquidity without triggering a sale, without a taxable disposal in most jurisdictions, and without giving up exposure if the asset keeps rising. You keep the upside and you get the cash.
The part that decides whether it works is less discussed. What you post as collateral determines how much you can borrow, and that ratio determines how far the market can move against you before the position is closed for you. This guide walks through the main collateral types, what each realistically supports, and the arithmetic that should drive your decision.
Educational only, not financial advice. Borrowing against volatile collateral carries liquidation risk.
How borrowing against crypto works
The mechanics are consistent across venues. You lock collateral in a smart contract or with a custodian, draw a loan against it, and the position stays open as long as your collateral keeps its value relative to the debt. Repay and the collateral is released. Fall below the liquidation threshold and part or all of the collateral is sold to clear the debt.
Three numbers govern everything:
- Maximum LTV, the highest ratio at which you can open the loan.
- Liquidation threshold, the ratio at which the position becomes liquidatable. Always above max LTV.
- Your chosen LTV, which is the only one you control, and the one that decides your survivable drawdown.
Our guide to crypto loan LTV works through the maths in full. The short version: borrowing at 30% LTV against an 80% threshold survives a 62.5% collateral decline. Borrowing at 70% survives 12.5%.
What you can borrow against
Maximum LTV is not a policy preference. It is a liquidity estimate: how much of this asset could the protocol sell, quickly, in a stressed market, without moving the price against itself? Deeper markets get higher ratios.
| Collateral | Typical max LTV | The real constraint |
|---|---|---|
| Major stablecoins | Highest tier | Depeg risk, not price risk |
| ETH and BTC | Commonly 70-80% | Volatility; deep liquidity everywhere |
| Liquid staking tokens | Moderate, near the underlying | Unbonding delay if the peg slips |
| Large-cap altcoins | Lower | Thinner books, wider slippage on liquidation |
| Long-tail tokens | Low or unsupported | Cannot be liquidated at the modelled price |
| NFTs | Lowest, capped well below 50% | Floor prices gap rather than trend |
Borrowing against ETH
The most common case, and the best supported. Ether has deep liquidity across every major venue, which is why it attracts some of the highest LTV ceilings available on volatile collateral. Our dedicated guide to Ethereum-backed loans covers the venues and mechanics.
The trap is that a generous ceiling invites you to use it. ETH has repeatedly moved 30% or more inside a month. A loan opened at the maximum permitted ratio is not conservative simply because the protocol allowed it.
Borrowing against Bitcoin
Similar profile to ETH: deep markets, high ceilings, and the same temptation. The practical difference is venue. Native BTC is not natively programmable on most DeFi lending platforms, so borrowing against it usually means either a custodial lender or a wrapped representation on another chain. The wrapped route adds a layer of risk that has nothing to do with Bitcoin itself, namely trust in whatever issues and backs the wrapper.
Borrowing against stablecoins
Posting a dollar token as collateral to borrow another asset looks paradoxical until you consider the use case: you want exposure to something without selling your dollars, or you are constructing a leveraged position.
The risk profile inverts. Your collateral will not fall 40% in a week, so ordinary volatility is not the threat. The threat is a depeg: if your stablecoin loses its peg, your LTV moves sharply against you while you are watching a chart that says one dollar. Our guide to yield-bearing stablecoins covers what actually backs these tokens and how depegs happen.
Borrowing against liquid staking tokens
An underused option. A liquid staking token represents a staked position and keeps accruing rewards while it sits as collateral, so the collateral itself is productive rather than idle.
The specific risk is the redemption path. If the token's market price drifts below its underlying value during stress, your collateral is marked at the market price even though the redemption value is intact. Anyone who cannot wait out an unbonding period can be liquidated on a discount that would have closed on its own.
Borrowing against altcoins
People search for borrowing against specific mid-cap tokens constantly, and it is possible on some venues. It deserves a blunt warning: LTVs are low for a reason. Liquidation requires selling your collateral into whatever market exists at that moment, and thin books during a sell-off mean liquidation happens at prices well below the quoted one.
If a token is the thing you are most bullish on, it is usually the worst thing to borrow against, because the scenario that liquidates you is the same scenario in which you least want to be forced out.
Borrowing against NFTs
The hardest collateral, and the one most lenders refuse entirely. JewelSwap supports it on MultiversX, borrowing EGLD against NFTs from verified collections at up to 50% of the NFT's value. A 3 EGLD floor backs up to 1.5 EGLD, and a 16-day interest plan at 4% costs 0.06 EGLD.
The 50% cap looks conservative beside the 70-80% common for ETH, and it should. NFT floors do not decline smoothly, they gap: a collection can lose half its floor in a day with no intermediate prices at which a liquidator could exit. A conservative cap is the only defence a lending pool has. Our guide to NFT-backed loans covers the Health Factor and liquidation flow.
How much should you actually borrow?
Work backwards from a drawdown you could sit through rather than forwards from the cash you want.
- Pick a survivable decline. For volatile collateral, 50% is a realistic stress case rather than a pessimistic one.
- Derive the LTV from it. To survive a 50% fall under an 80% liquidation threshold, open at 40% or below.
- Subtract for interest. Accrued interest raises your debt even if prices never move.
- Keep repayment capital liquid. A partial repayment is the fastest way to restore a position, and only works if the funds are not themselves locked in it.
- Match the term to the purpose. Fixed-term plans suit a known need. Open-ended borrowing invites the position to drift.
Custodial or non-custodial?
Both routes exist and the difference matters more after 2026.
Custodial lenders take your collateral onto their balance sheet. The experience is smoother, with fiat rails and support. The exposure is that your collateral is a claim against a company. The wave of exchange wind-downs made that concrete: three venues announced closures inside a single month, and whether users got assets back was a corporate decision.
Non-custodial protocols hold collateral in smart contracts you interact with directly. No company can decide to stop returning it. What replaces that risk is smart contract risk and the fact that liquidation is automated and unsentimental. Our comparison of crypto lending platforms covers both sides.
JewelSwap sits on the non-custodial side, across MultiversX, Sui and Radix, with money markets in both isolated and cross configurations and pricing drawn from multiple oracles: Pyth, Umbrella, AshSwap and xExchange. Isolated markets matter here specifically: they contain a volatile collateral's risk to one market rather than letting it reach your whole portfolio.
Frequently asked questions
Can I borrow against my crypto without selling it?
Yes. You post the asset as collateral, draw a loan against it, and retain ownership and price exposure as long as you stay clear of the liquidation threshold and keep interest paid. In most jurisdictions borrowing is not a taxable disposal, though you should confirm this locally.
How much can I borrow against ETH?
Major protocols commonly permit maximum LTVs in the 70-80% range for ETH, reflecting its deep liquidity. Borrowing near that ceiling leaves very little room: at 70% against an 80% threshold, a 12.5% decline is enough to trigger liquidation.
Can I borrow against stablecoins?
Yes, and they typically carry the highest LTV ceilings because they do not swing in price. The risk is different rather than absent: a depeg moves your ratio sharply while the asset still nominally reads as one dollar.
Can I borrow against altcoins?
On some venues, at much lower ratios. The constraint is liquidity: liquidation means selling your collateral into whatever market exists at that moment, and thin books mean it clears well below the quoted price. Long-tail tokens are often not accepted at all.
Can I use NFTs as collateral?
On platforms that support it. JewelSwap allows borrowing EGLD against NFTs from verified collections at up to 50% of the NFT's value on MultiversX. The low cap reflects that NFT floors gap downward rather than declining smoothly, leaving liquidators no intermediate price.
What LTV is safe?
There is no universal figure, but the method is consistent: choose the collateral decline you could survive, then set your LTV so liquidation sits beyond it. For volatile assets that usually means 40% or lower, with headroom for accrued interest.
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