How we track DeFi Bitcoin rates

DeFi (onchain) lending protocols — permissionless smart contracts where users deposit Bitcoin collateral and borrow stablecoins directly on-chain. This vertical is separate from the custodial lenders listed on the main comparison: different product, different risk profile, different regulatory status.

We list protocols that (1) have live on-chain markets accepting wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC, LBTC, or sBTC) as collateral, (2) publicly expose their rates and utilization via an API, subgraph, or on-chain query, and (3) have not experienced a material exploit or rug event without a subsequent verified full recovery. We do NOT include: • Protocols with unresolved exploits or treasury shortfalls • Protocols with no publicly queryable rate data • Protocols in beta or audit phase (no production markets)

Index basis: simple average variable borrow rate (APR%) for USDC across all active tracked DeFi markets, snapshotted daily at 14:00 UTC. We use USDC as the headline metric because it is available across all tracked protocols. USDT markets are tracked separately. Inactive markets (utilization = 0, or rate not queryable) are excluded from the aggregate on that date but their snapshot row is still stored. We publish: average, median, lowest, highest, average utilization, and active market count. We do NOT publish per-market daily history in the public download — aggregate only. The full per-market data is shown on the index page above the fold.

Rates are fetched from public protocol APIs and subgraphs — no authentication required. The cron runs daily at 14:00 UTC. If a fetch fails for a specific market, the cron falls back to the last known value and logs a warning; it never creates a gap in the time series. Phase 1 (launch): snapshot from static seed data in the database. Phase 2: live fetches from protocol APIs, applied before snapshotting. The page always shows which date the snapshot was captured.

Lowest APR alone is a poor way to choose a DeFi borrow market. A market with a slightly lower rate but near-maxed utilization can spike on you and leave thin liquidity to exit; a small market is more fragile; a pooled market rehypothecates your Bitcoin. So the default "Balanced" sort scores every market on four disclosed factors, each normalized across the markets shown: • Variable borrow rate — 40% (lower is better). The headline cost of the loan. • Utilization — 20% (lower is better). High utilization means the rate is volatile and there is little liquidity left to repay or withdraw against; a buffer is safer. • TVL / market depth — 20% (higher is better). Deeper, more-established markets are less fragile and less rate-volatile. • Collateral model — 20% (isolated is better). Isolated markets do not rehypothecate your Bitcoin; pooled markets do. Score = 0.40 × rate-rank + 0.20 × utilization-rank + 0.20 × TVL-rank + 0.20 × isolated, where each rank is a 0-to-1 min-max normalization across the visible markets. This is a transparent, mechanical default — not a recommendation. You can re-sort by any single factor (lowest rate, lowest utilization, highest TVL, highest max LTV) at any time, and we never use "best," "top pick," or "winner."

Every rate on this vertical is variable. DeFi protocol rates are set algorithmically, indexed to pool utilization: when more of a pool is borrowed out, rates rise; when borrowing falls, rates fall. This happens continuously and automatically. The rate you see when you open a position is not the rate you will pay for its duration. It is the rate at that moment. We show every rate with a "variable" label as a factual statement, not a caveat.

In DeFi, collateral treatment varies by protocol and market type: • Isolated markets: your deposited Bitcoin collateral backs only your own loan. It is not lent out, not pooled, and not accessible to other borrowers. Lower counterparty risk. • Pooled / vault models: deposited assets are lent out to earn yield. Your collateral is at risk not only from your own loan's liquidation but from protocol-level exploits or liquidity crises. We classify each market based on its published architecture documentation and smart-contract design. We err on the side of flagging rehypothecation when the architecture is ambiguous.

We do not connect to any wallet. We do not execute any transaction. We do not hold custody of any asset. We do not recommend which protocol to use. We display public data about protocols that anyone could look up directly on-chain or via the protocol's own interface. We do not editorially rank or recommend protocols. We do not use "best," "recommended," "top pick," or "winner." The default "Balanced" sort is a transparent, fully-disclosed mechanical formula (see "How we rank markets" above), not an opinion — and you can re-sort by any single factor at any time.

Some protocols listed here pay us when users visit through our links. Affiliate links are labeled. Affiliate status never changes: • Whether a protocol appears on our site • Its position in any sorted view • The data we display about it We list protocols we do not have affiliate relationships with, alongside ones we do.

borrowonbitcoin.com is published by Sypher Capital. We are a publisher of public comparison information about DeFi lending. We are not a DeFi protocol operator, smart contract deployer, broker, money transmitter, registered investment advisor, or financial institution of any kind. Nothing on this site is personalized financial advice. DeFi lending involves real risks — smart contract vulnerabilities, variable rates, liquidation without notice, and no regulatory recourse — that are materially different from the risks of a regulated custodial lender.