Arch Lending Review

Arch sets a fixed rate when the loan opens, so the opening offer determines the cost of keeping that balance outstanding. Loan size and payment schedule affect that offer. BTC, ETH, and SOL share the tiers below, with higher rates when interest is deferred. XRP and the two gold-backed tokens use separate schedules.

The lower rates require larger loans, and the origination deduction also changes how much money you receive. Fees range from 1.49% in the lower BTC, ETH, and SOL tiers to 0.25% at the top. On a $10,000 principal loan with a 1.49% fee, Arch deducts $149, leaving $9,851 before other transfer charges, even though you still owe $10,000 of principal.

The table shows Arch’s advertised 12-month APRs, with loans above $5 million subject to a custom quote. Arch says rates can also vary by state of residence, so the signed consumer disclosures determine the actual APR and payment schedule, including the fee deduction. Early payoff has no penalty. If the upfront fee is not refunded, a shorter loan still includes that charge, increasing the cost per month borrowed.

Below $250,000, choosing deferred interest on BTC, ETH, or SOL raises interest from 9.00% to 9.50% and advertised APR from 10.49% to 10.99%. XRP loans from $25,000 to below $500,000 list 12.00% interest and 13.50% APR for monthly payment, without a deferred option at that tier. PAXG and XAUT start at $250,000, where Arch advertises 9.25% APR for a 12-month loan with monthly interest.

Collateral sales have their own charges, separate from ordinary repayment. A voluntary sale to repay costs 2% of the assets sold, and forced partial liquidation typically costs 2% where permitted. The detailed liquidation policy allows a different fee up to 2.5%, while the individual agreement sets applicable late charges. Include those terms when judging the cost of an exit that requires selling collateral.

Each Arch loan uses one collateral type, chosen from BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, PAXG, and XAUT. Pledging several assets therefore means managing separate loans and collateral positions. Gold-backed tokens also retain their issuer, custody, and market-liquidity risks after they are pledged.

The default minimum is $5,000, subject to asset and state limits. XRP starts at $25,000, and either gold token requires at least $250,000, so the general minimum does not describe every collateral option. The selected asset also determines the loan-to-value (LTV) limits.

A $10,000 loan against Bitcoin at 60% initial LTV needs about $16,666.67 of BTC collateral. With debt unchanged, a 25% collateral-value decline takes LTV to the 80% partial-liquidation threshold. Any interest or fees added to the debt can bring that point closer, while principal repayment or added collateral can move it further away.

A margin call gives you up to 24 hours to add collateral or repay enough debt to restore the required LTV. For BTC, that target is 60%, including a loan opened at a lower ratio such as 40%. Email alerts and the dashboard show how much collateral or repayment the correction needs.

The 24-hour cure window can end early if LTV reaches the asset’s partial-liquidation threshold. For BTC, a price decline that raises LTV from the 70% margin-call level to 80% can trigger a sale before the 24 hours expire.

A partial sale reduces both the debt and the collateral, which can require selling a large share of the assets. Ignoring fees, $60,000 owed against $75,000 of collateral gives 80% LTV. Selling $37,500 and applying it to debt leaves $22,500 owed against $37,500, restoring 60% LTV after half the collateral has been sold.

The loan can continue with that smaller position, but another price fall can produce another margin call or sale. Late payments create an additional trigger, because Arch can sell collateral to settle overdue interest after its 20-day payment grace period. A position below the price-based sale threshold can therefore still face a sale for overdue interest.

The dashboard displays each loan’s trigger prices. Arch uses a CoinMarketCap price feed and describes checks for stale or extreme prices, but those safeguards do not guarantee an execution price during a rapid move. Use the trigger as the point at which a sale can begin, rather than the price you are certain to receive.

ChainFi, Inc., a nonbank lender, does business as Arch Lending, and names Anchorage Digital as its custodian. Arch states that borrowers’ collateral is not lent, staked, or otherwise reused. The assets nevertheless remain pledged under a lending agreement, so access depends on satisfying the loan’s collateral and payment obligations.

Arch describes the custody as segregated, with individually segregated wallets and block-explorer visibility offered for loans over $100,000. Below that loan size, the borrower needs Arch to explain how the collateral is identified within custody before funding.

The advertised $100 million Lloyd’s of London coverage is Anchorage’s commercial crime insurance, subject to its terms and exclusions. It is not an individual $100 million guarantee and does not cover price-driven liquidation. Arch also describes the structure as bankruptcy-remote, which is a claim about the arrangement rather than a guarantee of when or how much a borrower would recover in insolvency.

Arch’s lending terms allow it to replace the custodian on reasonable notice and keep a security interest in the collateral until everything owed is paid.

Check whether Arch lends to individuals in your state before comparing rates. Arch does not lend to individuals in California, Delaware, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Rhode Island, or Vermont. Its help pages and legal footer disagree on Hawaii, Maryland, and South Carolina. If you live in one of those three states, ask Arch whether it offers the loan to individual borrowers there before sending collateral.

An individual needs an eligible US consumer offer and must be at least 18, or the local age of majority if higher. Know-your-customer (KYC) identity checks apply without a credit-bureau check, and Arch can still request financial information or underwriting documents.

Consumer loans are for personal, family, or household purposes. Business and trust applicants follow a separate state list, and business loans must be used for business or commercial purposes, with international entities considered where permitted. Eligibility under one list does not establish eligibility under the other.

The loan setup screen uses collateral, loan amount, term, and jurisdiction to show the applicable offer. Identity checks and signed documents precede funding. After approval and signing, you have 24 hours to send collateral, with extensions available on request. Signing starts that deadline, and the disbursement estimate begins after collateral confirms.

US dollars can be sent to a bank by wire or Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer. USD Coin can be sent to a wallet that accepts USDC on Ethereum. Choose between bank funding and that wallet payout before sending collateral.

Arch estimates same-business-day disbursement processing after collateral confirms onchain. Identity verification can be near-instant or take up to 24 hours for manual review. Those estimates cover different stages and do not guarantee same-day bank arrival, and the origination deduction means the arriving amount can be below the loan principal.

Monthly-pay loans require interest during the term and principal at maturity. Deferring interest removes those monthly payments but uses a higher rate, with principal and accrued interest due at the end. Paying down principal during a deferred term reduces the balance on which later interest accrues.

Repayment supports USDC on Ethereum or Polygon, bank wire, and ACH. Connected US bank accounts use Plaid for one-time payments or autopay. An ACH credit can reach the loan balance before the transfer settles, so a failed transfer reverses that credit, requiring a new payment to avoid late fees. A failed autopay payment also suspends autopay until you reactivate it.

Rollover normally becomes available during the final three months, subject to account conditions and LTV below 65% for BTC, 60% for ETH, or 50% for SOL and XRP. It uses the prevailing rate and can add an origination fee to the new principal without paying out more cash. Any unpaid deferred interest also needs settling or inclusion in the new loan, so renewal can extend the loan with a larger balance.

A BTC position at 65% to below 70% LTV misses the rollover limit while remaining below the margin-call threshold. It may therefore need extra collateral or a debt reduction to qualify, even though no price-based margin call has begun. The individual agreement sets the consequences of reaching maturity without repayment or an approved rollover.

After payoff, request collateral withdrawal manually. ACH payoff adds a five-day hold after payment receipt, and Arch estimates release within 24 hours of an approved withdrawal request. An optional test transfer adds a borrower-confirmation step. Paying the balance is therefore not the same event as receiving the collateral back.

You can also ask support by email to sell collateral toward principal or interest, specifying the loan ID and amount. The 2% voluntary-sale fee applies, and Arch does not accept sale instructions through its AI chatbot.

The dashboard displays LTV, margin-call and sale prices, and loan activity, helping you judge whether the position can support a change. BTC borrowers can request excess collateral release below 50% LTV, with thresholds of 45% for ETH and 35% for SOL. Use the active loan’s applicable threshold to judge whether the lower LTV permits a release.

Upsizing instead draws extra cash while keeping the original maturity date. Arch charges origination fees on the additional amount, prorated for the remaining term. If Arch’s prevailing rate has changed, Arch blends the existing principal’s rate with the new borrowing rate, so the extra cash can change the combined cost without adding time to repay.

Drawing back up to the maximum starting LTV leaves less room before a price-based margin call. Upsizing or rollover also switches off autopay, so the new loan needs that payment setting restored before its next statement. Making those changes requires account access, and active borrowers must use authenticator-app two-factor authentication.

Chat, email, and phone support are available. Phone hours are 9:00 am to 7:00 pm Eastern on weekdays and 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on weekends, and chat starts with an AI assistant that can pass questions to the team. A cure must be completed inside the 24-hour window, or before LTV reaches the partial-liquidation threshold if that happens sooner. Ask support questions early enough for a top-up or repayment to complete in time.