Wealthy Shift to Year-Long Bitcoin-Backed Loans, Xapo Finds

Xapo’s Q1 2026 Digital Wealth Report found high-net-worth clients increased active bitcoin-backed loans by 8.9% versus Q4 2025 and shifted 53.9% of all loans to 365-day terms to obtain liquidity without selling bitcoin.

The report covers activity on Xapo’s platform during the first quarter of 2026, when price swings rose 67% in March. Active loans rose while conventional trading volumes declined, and many clients used bitcoin as collateral instead of liquidating positions.

Since the lending product launched, more than half of loans issued are one-year contracts. Among members with active loans, an average of 60% of their total bitcoin holdings were pledged as collateral.

The report states: “The data suggests members are not only opening loans but keeping them live for longer. Borrowing is becoming a more embedded part of how members manage liquidity without selling core bitcoin holdings.”

Trading patterns also changed. About 78.4% of members increased their bitcoin exposure during the quarter. Transactions were larger and less frequent compared with the rapid dip-buying seen in early 2025; the report described the pattern as “fewer but larger” trades.

Generation data showed Gen X holds 47% of Xapo’s assets under management, millennials 29% and baby boomers 22%, with Gen X and millennials together controlling roughly 76% of AUM on the platform.

The report notes members used structured liquidity to fund lifestyles and investments and to avoid taxable events that come from selling assets.

Xapo presents the findings as a shift toward routine use of bitcoin-backed borrowing among wealthy clients, marked by longer loan terms and high collateral ratios on its platform.