Coinbase now allows eligible customers in the United States to borrow USDC against tokenized gold, adding PAX Gold (PAXG), a token issued by Paxos, as collateral within its stablecoin lending product. The option is available directly inside the Coinbase app.

The addition marks the first time Coinbase Borrow has accepted an asset that is not a cryptocurrency. Until now, the service accepted only crypto-native collateral, including bitcoin, ether, XRP and solana. Coinbase Borrow lets customers take out USDC loans against eligible assets posted as collateral. With the change, a traditional commodity now sits on the same borrowing rails as crypto-native assets, giving holders a way to pledge gold exposure for stablecoin liquidity rather than sell it.

The gold-backed loans run on Morpho, the onchain lending network that already powers Coinbase Borrow. Morpho announced the new gold on November 6, 2026, in a blog post, extending a lending partnership between the two companies that has already handled billions of dollars in loans. For now, only eligible users in the United States can access the gold option.

How the Gold Loans Work

The offering uses a new USDC and PAXG market on Morpho. The market runs on Base, the blockchain network built by Coinbase, and sits alongside the existing crypto markets that support Coinbase Borrow. Users pledge their PAXG tokens as collateral and receive USDC in return.

PAXG is a tokenized gold asset, which means it represents gold in digital form on a blockchain. Customers do not need to leave the Coinbase app to take out a loan. The process takes place within the same Borrow feature that already handles crypto-backed loans.

Morpho said it is one of the largest sources of USDC liquidity onchain, and the company said that position gives Coinbase users access to competitive borrowing rates against gold.

According to Morpho, Coinbase did not need to rebuild its lending systems to add the new option, and it did not have to build a fresh pool of funds from scratch. Instead, the gold market plugs into the existing integration between the two companies.

Gold can now back a USDC loan on Coinbase. PAX Gold (PAXG) added as collateral Powered by Morpho on Base Eligible US users, excluding New York; liquidation risk Would you borrow against gold rather than sell it? #Crypto #RWA pic.twitter.com/PF5JAFv6vi

— Hashim N. (@hashi1888) November 6, 2026

As the post notes, the service excludes users in New York and collateralized positions carry liquidation risk. The underlying integration currently holds about $3.4 billion in collateral, based on data cited by Morpho, and active loans through it have passed $1.7 billion. Morpho described the arrangement as one of the largest crypto-backed loan partnerships between a consumer platform and an open credit network.

A Small Slice of a Large Gold Market

Morpho estimates that gold is a roughly $30 trillion asset class worldwide. Only about $5 billion of that total has been tokenized onchain so far, and an even smaller share of tokenized gold is used as collateral in onchain lending today.

Morpho characterized gold-backed loans as a still-developing market, similar to loans backed by tokenized stocks. In the company's view, tokenization is only the first step for asset issuers. Tokenized assets become more useful when people can pledge them to unlock stablecoin loans, and that borrowing ability, in Morpho's view, is what sets tokens apart from their offchain versions. The company said this can lead to greater demand for the tokens.

The same lending approach is open to other tokenized asset issuers, according to Morpho. Platforms building on its network can use the setup to add new types of collateral.

For now, PAXG joins bitcoin, ether, XRP and solana on the list of assets accepted by Coinbase Borrow. It is the only non-crypto asset on that list. Since Morpho said the same setup is open to other tokenized asset issuers, the range of collateral accepted in consumer lending apps is a development worth tracking.

Source: Blockonomi