The only mainstream Bitcoin lender offering 3-year and 5-year fixed-rate loans. 9.95-14.45% APR, $5K minimum. Survived 2022-2023 stress with a brief withdrawal pause and a Colorado regulatory settlement on record.
SALT Lending is one of the original Bitcoin-backed loan platforms. Founded in 2016 in Denver, Colorado, the company predates most of its competitors and was offering Bitcoin loans before BlockFi or Celsius existed. Survival in the 2022 crypto-lending wipeout was not guaranteed, and SALT did not come through clean. The company paused customer withdrawals briefly in late 2022 during the BlockFi and Celsius contagion, then resumed in early 2023 after restructuring custody arrangements with institutional custodians.
In 2023, the Colorado Division of Banking concluded an investigation into SALT and the company entered a settlement that included operational changes, disclosure improvements, and other requirements. Withdrawals have continued without interruption since. As of 2026, SALT operates under the post-settlement framework and continues to serve a customer base in the United States and select international jurisdictions.
What SALT does that no other major Bitcoin lender does: 3-year and 5-year fixed-rate loans. Most competitors offer open-ended credit lines (Ledn, Nexo, Strike) where the rate can change at any time. SALT lets you lock in a fixed APR for the full term of the loan, including multi-year horizons. That is genuinely useful for borrowers who want to plan around a specific cost of capital over years rather than months. Whether the company-level operational risk is worth that feature is the central question of this review.
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Custody model | 6/10 | Institutional custody; less transparency than Ledn or Unchained |
| Transparency | 5/10 | No published proof-of-reserves equivalent; custody structure less documented |
| Regulatory record | 5/10 | Colorado settlement 2023; 2022 withdrawal pause; resolved but on file |
| Rate transparency | 6/10 | Advertised low rates require SALT token holdings; tier system adds complexity |
| Unique product features | 8/10 | 3 and 5-year fixed-rate loans not offered by major competitors |
| Overall | 6.5/10 | Unique long-term product but operational and regulatory record drag the score |
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| APR range | 9.95-14.45% fixed |
| Minimum loan | $5,000 USD-equivalent |
| Maximum loan | $25,000,000 |
| Loan terms | 1, 3, or 5 years (fixed) |
| LTV range | 30-70% (tier-dependent) |
| Margin call LTV | ~75-83% |
| Liquidation LTV | ~90-95% |
| Custody model | Custodial with institutional custodians |
| Origination fee | Varies (typically 0-5% depending on tier) |
| Accepted collateral | Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, and select assets |
| Loyalty tiers | Yes (SALT token-dependent) |
| KYC required | Yes |
| Availability | US (state-dependent), select international |
| Headquarters | Denver, Colorado |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Track record | 2022 withdrawal pause; 2023 Colorado settlement; resumed operations |
In late 2022, as BlockFi entered Chapter 11 and Celsius unwound, SALT briefly paused customer withdrawals. The duration was short relative to BlockFi or Celsius (which never resumed), and SALT restored withdrawals in early 2023 after restructuring its custody and operational arrangements with institutional custodians. No customer principal was permanently lost, but the pause itself is a meaningful data point about SALT operational resilience under stress compared to lenders like Ledn that did not pause.
In 2023, the Colorado Division of Banking concluded an investigation related to SALT operating practices and the company entered a settlement that included operational changes, enhanced disclosures, and other regulatory requirements. The settlement was a civil regulatory matter, not a fraud finding, and SALT continues to operate under Colorado oversight today. The settlement is part of the public record and should be considered as part of the operational track record when comparing SALT against lenders without similar entries.
Honest read: SALT survived a stress period that killed several major competitors, and the company has operated continuously since early 2023. That is a positive signal. The cost is that SALT cannot offer the same clean track record as Ledn or the same structural custody guarantees as Unchained. You are choosing SALT for its unique product (long fixed-term loans) and accepting the operational history that comes with it.
Most crypto lenders offer open-ended credit lines (Nexo, Strike) or short fixed terms (Ledn typically 12 months). The rate can change with platform pricing changes, market conditions, or your loyalty tier. For a borrower planning around a stable cost of capital over years, this variability is a problem.
SALT lets you fix a rate for 1, 3, or 5 years. That matters in several scenarios: long-term business financing where you need predictable interest expense, real estate transactions where Bitcoin collateral funds a multi-year mortgage-style loan, or simply borrowers who want certainty over a multi-year horizon without wondering whether a rate change next year will break their plan. No other mainstream Bitcoin lender offers this in 2026.
The tradeoff: locking into a multi-year relationship with a custodial lender is exactly the kind of long-term counterparty exposure that the 2022 crisis exposed as dangerous. If you commit to a 5-year SALT loan, you are accepting 5 years of SALT operational and regulatory risk. For a borrower who prizes rate certainty above everything else, that tradeoff makes sense. For most borrowers, shorter-term alternatives with stronger custody track records (Ledn, Strike) are a better fit.
SALT advertises its lowest rates only for borrowers in higher loyalty tiers, which require holding and sometimes staking SALT tokens. This is structurally identical to the Nexo loyalty model and has the same problem: your effective borrowing cost is not just the APR you see, it is the APR plus the price-performance risk of holding a single utility token you cannot easily exit without losing your tier.
If SALT token price declines during your loan term, your loyalty tier can drop, and your APR can climb above what you initially signed for, depending on the specifics of your loan agreement. This is most painful on the long fixed-term loans that are SALT distinctive feature: a 5-year loan where the loyalty tier protection erodes halfway through is not the same product you signed up for.
Analytical advice: when comparing SALT to Strike, Ledn, or Unchained, use the higher end of the SALT published rate range (closer to 14.45%) as your realistic cost. The lowest advertised rates are conditional in ways the published numbers do not fully disclose. At 14% effective APR, SALT competes with Unchained (~14.2%) rather than Strike (~9.5%) or Ledn (10.4-11.4%).
Three different custodial Bitcoin loan platforms with very different value propositions.
| Parameter | SALT | Ledn | Strike |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum loan | $5,000 | $500 | $10,000 |
| APR | 9.95-14.45% | 10.4-11.4% | ~9.5% |
| Loan term | 1, 3, or 5 years | Open credit line | Open credit line |
| Custody | Custodial | Segregated or rehypo | Custodial, no rehypo |
| Loyalty token required | Yes (SALT) | No | No |
| 2022 withdrawal pause | Yes (briefly) | No | N/A (launched 2024) |
| Regulatory settlements | Yes (Colorado 2023) | No | No |
SALT wins on loan term flexibility (only one with 3 and 5-year fixed terms). Ledn wins on track record (no pause, monthly proof-of-reserves). Strike wins on price (~9.5% with zero fees). For a multi-year fixed-rate Bitcoin loan, SALT is the answer. For everything else, look at the alternatives.
SALT Lending earns 6.5/10. The product has a genuinely unique feature (3 and 5-year fixed-rate Bitcoin loans) that no major competitor offers, and the company has survived a stress period that killed BlockFi, Celsius, and Voyager. For borrowers who specifically need multi-year rate certainty on Bitcoin collateral, SALT is essentially the only choice.
What drags it down: the 2022 withdrawal pause and 2023 Colorado settlement are on the operational record. Custody transparency is weaker than Ledn (no proof-of-reserves), structural custody is weaker than Unchained (no multisig client key), and the SALT loyalty token coupling means advertised low rates are conditional in ways the marketing does not fully expose. Without the long-term fixed-rate product, the rest of SALT offering does not stand out against competitors that have done the same job with cleaner records.
Use SALT if you need a 3 or 5-year fixed-rate Bitcoin loan and have weighed the operational history. Use Strike for the lowest US APR on shorter terms. Use Ledn for the cleanest custodial track record. Use Unchained for multisig custody. Use Hodl Hodl / Debifi or Surge Credit for non-custodial structure.
Pick your term (1, 3, or 5 years), complete KYC, deposit Bitcoin collateral, receive USD. $5,000 minimum.
SALT Lending paused customer withdrawals briefly in late 2022 during the BlockFi and Celsius contagion period, then resumed in early 2023. The Colorado Division of Banking subsequently investigated and SALT settled the matter in 2023, agreeing to operational changes and disclosure improvements. Withdrawals have been continuous since. That history matters: SALT is a survivor, but unlike Ledn it did not come through the 2022 crisis without operational disruption or regulatory action. As of 2026, SALT continues to operate under the post-settlement framework. No customer has lost principal, but the track record is real and should weigh on your decision. For zero-disruption alternatives in the custodial space, Ledn is cleaner. For lower-cost custodial loans, Strike is cheaper.
SALT offers fixed-rate loans typically in the 9.95% to 14.45% range. The rate depends on your LTV tier, loan term, and whether you hold and stake SALT tokens for loyalty discounts. Lowest published rates require SALT token holdings, similar to the Nexo loyalty model. Without token holdings, expect to be at the higher end of the range. Rates are fixed for the entire term of the loan including the unusually long 3-year and 5-year options.
$5,000 USD-equivalent. That positions SALT between Ledn ($500) and Strike ($10,000) in accessibility. The minimum has changed over the years; verify the current floor on SALT's product page before applying.
SALT is one of the few crypto lenders that offers 1, 3, and 5-year fixed-rate loans. Most competitors (Ledn, Strike, Nexo) offer open-ended credit lines or short fixed terms. If you want long-term rate certainty over multiple years on Bitcoin collateral, SALT is essentially the only mainstream option. The tradeoff: you commit to a longer-term relationship with a custodian during a period where the broader crypto-lending sector has proven fragile.
LTV ranges from 30% to 70% depending on the loan tier and term. Lower LTV (30-40%) gives you a larger buffer against liquidation but borrows less against the same Bitcoin. Higher LTV (60-70%) borrows more but liquidation triggers faster on Bitcoin price drops. Margin call typically at 75-83% LTV depending on tier; liquidation triggers at 90-95% LTV. These thresholds are more aggressive than Ledn (80% liquidation) or Unchained (80-85%).
SALT's disclosures on rehypothecation have varied over time and have not been as clear as Ledn's product-level split. As of 2026, the company indicates customer collateral is held in custody with institutional custodians and is not used to generate yield through rehypothecation. This is a stated policy rather than a contractual or cryptographic guarantee. For verifiable non-rehypothecation, Strike publishes clearer commitments and Unchained's multisig structure makes rehypothecation structurally impossible.
SALT is the native utility token of the SALT Lending platform. Holding and staking SALT tokens unlocks loyalty tiers with lower APRs, higher LTVs, and reduced fees. You do not need to hold SALT to take a loan, but the best-advertised rates require meaningful SALT exposure. This creates the same coupling problem as Nexo's loyalty model: your effective borrowing cost depends partly on the price performance of a single utility token you have to hold. If SALT depreciates, your loyalty tier can drop and your rate can climb. Most analytical borrowers should ignore advertised low rates and assume the mid-to-upper end of the published range.
Yes, but service is state-dependent. SALT was founded in Colorado and operates under US state lending registrations. After the 2023 Colorado settlement, the company restructured its US operations. Some states have full availability; others have restrictions or are excluded entirely. Check SALT's product page for your state before applying. International availability exists in select jurisdictions.
Strike wins on price (~9.5%) and zero fees but requires $10K minimum. Ledn wins on track record (no withdrawal pause, monthly proof-of-reserves) and offers $500 minimum. Unchained wins on custody (you hold a multisig key) but requires $150K minimum. Nexo wins on minimum size ($50) but has worse regulatory baggage. SALT wins on one specific thing: long fixed-term loans (3 and 5 years) that competitors do not offer. If you need multi-year rate certainty, SALT is the only mainstream option. For everything else, the competitors are stronger.
SALT held customer collateral with institutional custodians during the 2022-2023 stress period, and that custody arrangement is what allowed it to resume operations after the temporary withdrawal pause. In a hypothetical bankruptcy, the segregated custody arrangement should support recovery, but actual recovery depends on jurisdiction, claim process, and the specific structure in effect at the time of insolvency. SALT has not published transparency on its current custody structure to the same degree as Ledn (proof of reserves) or Unchained (on-chain multisig). For maximum bankruptcy survivability on Bitcoin collateral, non-custodial alternatives (Hodl Hodl, Surge Credit) or multisig (Unchained) are structurally stronger.
Good for: borrowers who specifically need a long fixed-term Bitcoin loan (3 or 5 years), who want US-based operations, and who can accept the operational track record including the 2022-2023 pause and Colorado settlement. Look elsewhere if: you want the cheapest rate (use Strike), the cleanest track record (use Ledn), structural custody safety (use Unchained or Hodl Hodl), or non-custodial Taproot-based lending (use Surge Credit).
Lowest US APR (~9.5%), zero fees, similar custodial structure with cleaner record.
$500 minimum, segregated custody option, monthly proof of reserves. No 2022 pause.
2-of-3 multisig where you hold a key. Structural alternative to custodial models.
Non-custodial 3-of-4 multisig with minimal KYC. Privacy and custody alternative.
Non-custodial Taproot vault. $5 minimum, no KYC, audits pending.
Full comparison of every major Bitcoin lending platform.