Crypto Loan

The pitch for Onchain Loan

In December 2023, my PM and I built a prototype for Coinbase's first DeFi-powered loan in under two weeks. We pitched it to the CPO with a 50-second video and walked out with 8 engineers, a dedicated legal team, and a marketing partner. Coinbase Onchain Loan launched in February 2025.

Will Robinson (CTO), Jesse Pollak (Head of Base), and Brian Armstrong (CEO) were all aligned on the approach — seeing it as a foundational move for Base's DeFi ecosystem and Coinbase's onchain future.

First of many

Coinbase had previously shut down a centralized loan product — high operational costs, regulatory complexity, and capital requirements made it unsustainable. DeFi changed the equation. By routing loans through Morpho Protocol on Base, we could offer low rates, no credit checks, and no payback schedule — without Coinbase acting as the lender.

Onchain Loan wasn't just a new product — it was Coinbase's first deployment of several foundational technologies, all used together for the first time.

Simplest loan

The core user: a Coinbase customer who is long in Bitcoin, needs liquidity, but has never touched DeFi. We removed every layer of complexity — no jumping between sites, no manual math, no crypto literacy required. By defaulting to a recommended LTV, most users can get a loan in a few taps.