Galaxy Digital launched a crypto-backed line of credit for retail clients on August 25, 2026, letting borrowers pledge bitcoin, ether and SOL, including staked SOL, against one revolving line at a variable 8.99% APR. Lines open at 50% loan-to-value.
The Big Picture
- GalaxyOne clients can pledge bitcoin, ether and SOL against one revolving credit line secured by their combined holdings.
- Galaxy charges no origination fee and takes interest-only monthly payments on an open-term line that usually funds instantly.
- Staked SOL counts as collateral without unstaking, so pledged coins keep earning rewards and keep their slashing risk.
- Lines start at a 50% loan-to-value ratio and are unavailable to clients in nine states, including California and Nevada.
Galaxy opens one credit line across bitcoin, ether and SOL
Galaxy built the Crypto Portfolio Line of Credit around a single collateral pool, which the company says gives clients more borrowing power than collateralizing each asset on its own. Borrowers keep the cash on the GalaxyOne platform or withdraw it as USD or USDC. Galaxy names tax obligations, a real estate purchase, home improvements and investment opportunities among the intended uses.
Zac Prince, Managing Director of GalaxyOne said:
Galaxy runs the line on its own institutional platform rather than an external DeFi lending protocol, and states that pledged collateral is not rehypothecated, so it is not lent out or reused while it backs the line. The announcement names no custodian for that collateral and carries no third-party attestation of the pledge.
Unlock liquidity. Keep your crypto.
— GalaxyOne (@galaxyoneapp) August 25, 2026
GalaxyOne Crypto Portfolio Line of Credit is live.
Borrow against your combined $BTC, $ETH, and $SOL portfolio through a single line of credit.
No origination fee. 8.99% APR.*
Access tax-efficient liquidity without selling your crypto.** pic.twitter.com/UKQFfBXSxG
Staked SOL keeps earning, and keeps its slashing risk
Clients can pledge staked SOL without unstaking it, and Galaxy says those coins continue earning applicable staking rewards. The same disclosures state that staking carries risk of loss through slashing or other protocol-related events. That combination puts protocol level loss risk on assets already securing a consumer loan.
Galaxy monitors collateral values continuously and says it notifies clients before any collateral action is required. The announcement sets the origination loan-to-value ratio at 50% and stops there, without publishing the maintenance threshold at which that action begins.
Four questions sit open for borrowers:
- What maintenance loan-to-value ratio triggers a margin call or a liquidation?
- How much advance notice arrives before pledged collateral is sold?
- Do slashing losses on pledged staked SOL count against the borrower’s ratio?
- What are the minimum and maximum line sizes?
Clients holding staked SOL on GalaxyOne can read the maintenance ratio and the notice period out of the loan agreement before pledging anything, because neither figure appears in the public announcement.
The advertised rate can move on 30 days notice
Galaxy set a variable APR that it can change with 30 days notice, and says the rate in select states may be lower. The line carries no origination fee, an open-term revolving structure and interest only monthly payments, which keeps the carrying cost visible month to month. Galaxy delivers tax forms annually and states that borrowing is generally not a taxable event.
GalaxyOne offers the line in 40 U.S. states and names nine where clients cannot get it: California, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada and South Dakota. GalaxyOne Lending LLC issues the credit under NMLS ID 2741667, placing it inside the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System that covers US digital lending platforms.
Prince returns to crypto lending after the BlockFi settlement
Prince co-founded BlockFi and led it as chief executive. According to Bloomberg, he took over GalaxyOne in October 2025 to build out Galaxy’s retail push. BlockFi agreed on February 14, 2022 to pay $50 million to the SEC and $50 million to 32 states over its BlockFi Interest Accounts, which the agency found were securities the firm never registered.
The two products run in opposite directions. BIAs took crypto from retail investors and paid them variable monthly interest, while the GalaxyOne line lends dollars to retail clients against crypto they keep. A state licensed consumer lender issues the new line, which places it under a different rulebook from the one that produced the settlement.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
The single line structure changes the math for holders who want cash without a sale. A borrower with bitcoin, ether and staked SOL draws against all of it at one rate and one ratio, and Galaxy states that borrowing is generally not a taxable event. The cost sits in the collateral, where market moves and slashing both cut the value backing a line that opened at the origination ratio.
Non-rehypothecation is the term doing the most work here. The SEC order against BlockFi faulted that firm for false and misleading statements about the risk in its loan book, and a written pledge not to lend pledged collateral out speaks to the same trust gap. Nothing in the announcement puts an independent auditor behind that pledge, which leaves clients relying on Galaxy’s own controls and on what the loan agreement spells out.
