Borrowing against your bitcoin is a big decision, and lender marketing doesn't make it easy to compare real costs. Here's exactly how we keep our numbers honest.
Every day, our monitoring system visits each lender's published rate and terms pages and compares what it finds against our database. When something looks different — a rate change, a new fee, a collateral change — it gets flagged. Any meaningful change is reviewed against the lender's official source before our numbers update.
Lenders quote rates in inconsistent ways. Some advertise a base interest rate and add an origination or admin fee on top. Others quote an APR with fees already included. Comparing those headline numbers directly would make the fee-hiding lenders look cheaper than they are.
So our comparison table headlines the effective APR — the rate with disclosed fees included — for every lender. Where a lender's base rate differs from their APR, we show both. That's the same standard mortgage comparisons use, and it's the closest thing to an apples-to-apples number this industry allows.
Not all data can be equally certain, and we'd rather tell you that than pretend otherwise. You'll see these labels on our lender pages:
✓ Verified from official source — the number comes straight from the lender's own published pages or disclosures.
From official pages with variable pricing — the source is official, but pricing moves (for example, rates set by a live lending market), so treat the number as a recent snapshot.
Marketplace ranges observed — for peer-to-peer platforms where individual lenders set their own terms, we report the range we've seen rather than a quoted rate.
Every lender page also shows the date we last verified its terms. If a date looks stale, the lender's site is the source of truth.
BitClarity may earn referral fees when you apply for a loan through links on this site. Two commitments on that: referral relationships never affect our data — rates, rankings, and sort order come from the numbers alone — and we track every major lender whether or not they pay us anything.
We're a research tool, not a financial advisor. Always confirm terms directly with a lender before applying, and never borrow more against your bitcoin than you can afford to see liquidated.
The BitClarity Score (out of 10) is computed by formula from the same structured data shown on each product — never a paid placement or a hand-picked editorial opinion. It's an absolute score: each product is graded against fixed thresholds, so adding a new card later doesn't shuffle everyone else's number.
The weighting is deliberately bitcoin-first. For loans and collateralized cards, we score how each handles the risks that matter when you borrow against bitcoin: counterparty safety (custody model — self-custody and multisig rank highest — plus proof-of-reserves, no-rehypothecation, segregated collateral, a qualified custodian, and platform track record, 30%), liquidation safety (how far bitcoin can fall before your collateral is liquidated, driven by max LTV and the liquidation threshold, 25%), cost (effective all-in APR, fees, and rate certainty, 25%), and accessibility (minimum loan size, KYC, and jurisdiction, 20%).
For rewards cards, we score rewards value (30%), bitcoin alignment (rewards paid in bitcoin rank above altcoin rewards, 20%), cost (annual and foreign-transaction fees, 20%), access (no subscription, stake, or asset minimum needed to earn the headline rate, 15%), and rewards quality (instant, uncapped, 15%).
The score is a starting point, not a verdict — the right product depends on your situation. Every product page shows the full breakdown so you can see exactly how the number was built.
If a number here doesn't match what a lender is actually offering, we genuinely want to know — corrections make this resource better for everyone. Flag it and we'll re-verify against the source.