US-regulated Bitcoin lender launched in 2024 by an ex-Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital team. Segregated qualified custody at Anchorage Digital or BitGo, $25,000 minimum, white-glove service for high-net-worth borrowers.
Arch Lending is one of the cleaner US-regulated Bitcoin lenders to emerge after the 2022 crisis. Founded in 2024 by a team out of Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital, Arch positioned itself from day one as a high-net-worth, concierge product: $25,000 minimum, segregated qualified custody at Anchorage Digital or BitGo, and pricing in the 9-11% APR range depending on loan size and LTV.
The custody story is the strongest part of the pitch. Anchorage Digital is the only US OCC-chartered crypto bank, which puts it in a regulatory category no other Bitcoin custodian occupies. BitGo is the long-standing institutional alternative. In either case, Arch states that customer Bitcoin sits in segregated custody and is not rehypothecated to generate yield. That is the structural choice that kept Ledn alive in 2022 while BlockFi and Celsius collapsed.
What holds the score back is the honest counterpoint: Arch launched in 2024. It has not been through a full crypto bear-market cycle under its current capital structure. It does not yet publish proof-of-reserves attestations the way Ledn has since 2021. And the $25,000 minimum filters out the retail borrowers who most need a low-friction custodial option. Strong team plus strong custody plus short track record adds up to a 7, not an 8.
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Custody model | 8/10 | Segregated qualified custody at Anchorage Digital or BitGo; no rehypothecation |
| Transparency | 6/10 | No public proof-of-reserves cadence yet; relies on custodian reputation |
| Regulatory record | 8/10 | US state-registered; no enforcement actions on file as a 2024 entrant |
| Rate transparency | 7/10 | 9-11% APR tiered by loan size and LTV; final quote after onboarding |
| Track record | 5/10 | Launched 2024, not stress-tested through a full bear market cycle |
| Overall | 7/10 | Strong custody and team pedigree, capped by short track record and missing proof-of-reserves |
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| APR range | ~9-11% (tiered by size and LTV) |
| Minimum loan | $25,000 |
| Maximum loan | $1,000,000+ (high-net-worth focus) |
| Max LTV | 50% |
| Margin call LTV | 70% |
| Liquidation LTV | 80% |
| Custody model | Segregated qualified custody, no rehypothecation |
| Custodian | Anchorage Digital (US OCC-chartered) or BitGo |
| Origination fee | Yes (tier-dependent) |
| Prepayment penalty | No |
| Accepted collateral | Bitcoin (primary), select other assets |
| KYC required | Yes |
| Availability | Select US states only; no international as of 2026 |
| Proof of reserves | No (not yet published) |
| Founded | 2024 (ex-Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital team) |
| Track record | Newer entrant; no full bear-market stress test yet |
Arch Lending offers two qualified custodian options for customer Bitcoin: Anchorage Digital and BitGo. Both are institutional-grade. The Anchorage relationship is the one worth highlighting.
Anchorage Digital received a national trust bank charter from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in 2021. It is the only crypto-focused institution with that charter. Practically, that means Anchorage is supervised as a federally chartered bank, holds customer crypto under qualified-custodian rules, and operates under capital and reporting requirements that no other US Bitcoin custodian faces. For Arch customers, this puts the custody layer inside the US bank regulatory perimeter rather than under a patchwork of state money-transmitter laws.
BitGo is the long-running institutional alternative, used by Ledn for its international product and by many other major platforms. It is a qualified custodian under New York and South Dakota trust laws. Less regulatory weight than Anchorage, but a longer operating history.
Arch states that customer Bitcoin under either custodian is held in segregated accounts and not rehypothecated. That structural choice is what separates Arch from the BlockFi/Celsius failure mode. It does not make Arch bulletproof, but it eliminates the single largest historical cause of customer losses in this market.
Arch Lending launched in 2024. The 2022 crypto bear market (the cycle that wiped out BlockFi, Celsius, and Voyager) happened before Arch existed. That matters more than it might sound.
The 2022 crisis was the first real stress test for the Bitcoin lending sector at scale. It exposed who was rehypothecating customer collateral (BlockFi, Celsius), who was operating with brittle liquidity management (Voyager), and who had made the structural choices that survive a 75% drawdown (Ledn, Unchained). Lenders launched after 2022 (Arch, Strike, Surge Credit, etc.) have not been through that filter under live conditions with their current capital, custody, and counterparty structure.
That is not a reason to avoid Arch. Plenty of newer entrants have made the right structural choices that the failed lenders did not, and Arch (segregated custody, no rehypothecation, conservative LTV ladder) is clearly in that category on paper. But "on paper" is not the same as "tested in production through a real drawdown". Until Arch goes through a full bear cycle without breaking, the track-record score stays capped.
Four credible options for US borrowers in 2026, with very different positioning.
| Parameter | Arch | Ledn | Unchained | Strike |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum loan | $25,000 | $500 | $150,000 | $10,000 |
| APR | ~9-11% | 10.4-11.4% | ~14.2% | ~9.5% |
| Custody | Segregated (Anchorage/BitGo) | Segregated or rehypo (your choice) | Multisig, you hold 1 key | Custodial, no rehypo |
| Proof of reserves | No | Yes (monthly) | N/A (you hold key) | No |
| KYC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Survived 2022 | No (launched 2024) | Yes | Yes | No (launched 2024) |
| US availability | Yes (select states) | Yes (state-dependent) | Yes | Yes (state-dependent) |
Arch wins on custody quality (Anchorage OCC charter is unique) and on concierge service for HNW borrowers. Ledn wins on track record and proof-of-reserves transparency. Unchained wins on multisig custody if you can meet the $150K minimum. Strike wins on price for loans over $10K with a similar non-rehypothecated custodial structure.
Arch Lending earns 7/10. The custody story (Anchorage Digital OCC-chartered or BitGo qualified custody, segregated, no rehypothecation) is among the strongest on the US market. The founding team brings real institutional credibility. Conservative LTV thresholds, US state registration, and a focus on HNW concierge service all argue for trust.
What caps the score: Arch launched in 2024, after the 2022 stress test. It has not survived a full bear cycle under its current capital and counterparty structure. It does not yet publish proof-of-reserves attestations the way Ledn does monthly. And the $25,000 minimum prices out the retail borrowers who most benefit from a low-friction custodial product.
For US borrowers in the $25K-$1M range who want institutional-grade custody and white-glove service, Arch is a credible option. For longer track record and published reserves, prefer Ledn. For lower rates with similar custodial structure, look at Strike. For multisig custody where you hold a key, look at Unchained. For non-custodial security, look at Hodl Hodl / Debifi or Surge Credit.
Begin onboarding, complete KYC, pick Anchorage or BitGo custody, deposit Bitcoin collateral, receive USD. $25,000 minimum.
Arch Lending uses a segregated custody structure with Anchorage Digital (the only US OCC-chartered crypto bank) or BitGo as qualified custodians. Customer Bitcoin is held in segregated accounts and is not rehypothecated. The founding team came out of Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital, and the company is registered under US state lending laws. The honest caveat: Arch launched in 2024, after the 2022 lending crisis that took down BlockFi, Celsius, and Voyager. That means Arch has not been stress-tested through a full crypto bear market under its current capital structure. The custody story is strong, but the track record is short.
Arch offers tiered pricing roughly in the 9-11% APR range depending on loan size, LTV, and term. Larger loans and lower LTV tiers get the better rates. That puts Arch competitive with Ledn (10.4-11.4%) and slightly above Strike (~9.5%), but below Nexo for comparable custodial structure. Exact rate quotes are provided after a borrower onboarding conversation, in line with the high-net-worth, white-glove model Arch targets.
$25,000. That sits between Ledn ($500) and Unchained ($150,000), and is well above Strike ($10,000) and Nexo ($50). The minimum is a deliberate filter: Arch is targeting high-net-worth borrowers who want concierge service rather than mass-market retail. If you need less than $25K, Ledn or Strike are the right destinations. If you need more than $150K and want multisig custody, look at Unchained.
Maximum LTV at origination is 50%, so $100,000 of Bitcoin collateral lets you borrow up to $50,000. Margin call triggers at 70% LTV. Liquidation triggers at 80% LTV. Those are the same conservative thresholds that Ledn and Strike use, and noticeably tighter than Nexo (~83%) or most DeFi lenders (85-90%). The conservative liquidation floor gives borrowers a real buffer when Bitcoin drawdowns hit.
No. Arch states that customer collateral sits in segregated qualified custody at Anchorage Digital or BitGo and is not relent to generate yield. That is the same structural decision that kept Ledn's Custodied product safe through 2022 while BlockFi and Celsius collapsed. The risk you are taking is custodial (trusting Arch plus its custodians not to fail), not rehypothecation risk on your specific coins.
Yes, with caveats. Arch is registered under US state lending laws and operates in select US states. State coverage is not 50-state and varies by jurisdiction. International customers are not yet served as of 2026. Check Arch's onboarding flow for your state's eligibility before committing time to the application.
Strike offers the lowest US APR (~9.5%) with a $10K minimum and segregated custody. Ledn offers the longest track record (founded 2018, survived 2022) with a $500 minimum and a labeled custody-vs-rate product choice. Unchained offers multisig custody where you hold a key, with a $150K minimum and a higher ~14% APR. Arch sits between Strike and Unchained on minimum size, offers concierge service that none of the others match, but is the newest entrant of the four and has no stress-test history.
Arch Lending was founded in 2024 by a team out of Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital. That background buys credibility on the institutional side (risk management, custody relationships, regulatory navigation) and matters for a lender targeting high-net-worth borrowers. It does not eliminate execution risk. Plenty of well-credentialed teams have run crypto lenders into the ground. Treat the team as a positive signal, not a guarantee.
Because Arch uses segregated qualified custody at Anchorage Digital or BitGo, customer Bitcoin sits in custody accounts that are legally separate from Arch's balance sheet. The structural claim is that those coins should be returnable to customers rather than swept into the bankruptcy estate. Reality of US crypto bankruptcies has been messier (see BlockFi recovery): even with segregated custody, expect delays, claim filings, and the possibility of haircuts. If you want to eliminate this failure mode entirely, look at non-custodial options like Hodl Hodl/Debifi or Surge Credit.
Not yet, as of 2026. Ledn publishes monthly attestations from Armanino. Arch has not yet rolled out a public proof-of-reserves cadence. That is a meaningful gap for a custodial lender, and is one of the main reasons Arch loses points relative to Ledn on transparency. The qualified custodian relationships (Anchorage, BitGo) provide structural protection, but independent third-party attestation on the customer-facing side would strengthen the trust story.
Good for: US high-net-worth borrowers in the $25K-$1M range who want a white-glove concierge experience, segregated qualified custody (Anchorage or BitGo), conservative liquidation thresholds, and a US-regulated counterparty. Look elsewhere if: you need less than $25K (use Ledn or Strike), you want the longest possible track record (use Ledn), you want the absolute lowest APR (use Strike), you want non-custodial security (use Hodl Hodl/Debifi or Surge Credit), or you want to hold your own multisig key (use Unchained).
Lowest US APR (~9.5%), zero fees, similar segregated custodial structure.
Longest track record. $500 minimum, monthly proof-of-reserves, Custodied vs Growth split.
Multisig custody where you hold a key. $150K minimum, higher APR, no rehypothecation.
Non-custodial 3-of-4 multisig. The privacy and custody alternative to Arch.
Non-custodial Taproot vault. $5 minimum, no KYC, audits pending.
Full comparison of every major Bitcoin lending platform.