Why His Bitcoin Lender Survived the 2022 Crash
Wealthy families have always borrowed against their assets instead of selling them, and Bitcoin holders spent years without a safe way to do the same. Cam Stromme sits down with Himanshu Sahay, co-founder of Arch, on how a Bitcoin-backed loan should work and what to demand from any lender. Guest: Himanshu Sahay, co-founder of Arch, a Bitcoin-backed lender. X: https://x.com/hhsahay Arch: https://archlending.com/ Arch on X: https://x.com/ArchLending BOOK A CONSULTATION Holding Bitcoin for decades raises two questions: who protects it, and how it reaches your family. Onramp answers both. Three institutions protect it, and no single one can lose it, move it, or use it. Inheritance built in. Insured through Lloyd's of London. Speak with our team to see if it fits. 👉 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/consult-fp-pod GET ON THE LIST Our research, event invites, and the week's Bitcoin news in one free email. 📩 https://go.onrampbitcoin.com/research-fp-pod ABOUT THIS EPISODE Himanshu Sahay built consumer apps at Tinder, Bird and Snap before co-founding Arch with Dhruv Patel, and he launched it as the last generation of crypto lenders collapsed. He tells Cam why Bitcoin holders deserve the same buy, borrow, die playbook private banks offer their clients, and what Arch decided to do differently from day one: no rehypothecation, client collateral held at a qualified custodian in segregated addresses borrowers can check themselves, and state lending licenses. They get into who borrows against Bitcoin and why, how margin calls are handled when the price drops on a Friday night, where the dollars behind a loan come from, and what an interest rate that looks too good is telling you. Himanshu also walks through collars that remove margin call risk, a loan built to accumulate more Bitcoin, and why most banks are still years away from lending against it. Onramp has partnered with Arch for nearly two years. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Himanshu Sahay and Arch 01:12 - From Tinder, Bird and Snap to Bitcoin 04:09 - Buy, borrow, die for Bitcoin holders 06:27 - Starting a Bitcoin lender in the 2022 collapse 08:08 - Why Arch never rehypothecates collateral 12:20 - Segregated custody you can verify 16:13 - State lending licenses and the BitLicense 20:17 - Who borrows against Bitcoin, and why 22:56 - Getting a Bitcoin-backed loan in minutes 24:54 - Margin calls, price wicks and safeguards 31:11 - Loan to value, APR and deferred interest 33:09 - Where the lending dollars come from 38:02 - Upsizing and rolling over a loan 39:39 - Collars, no margin calls and the Bitcoin accumulator 44:23 - When banks start lending against Bitcoin 48:59 - Borrowing against spot Bitcoin vs ETFs 52:12 - The financialization of Bitcoin 54:53 - Be curious, and be conservative ABOUT THE SHOW First Principles is Onramp Media's show on building and protecting Bitcoin wealth for the long term, hosted by Cam Stromme, Head of Private Wealth at Onramp. Join Cam's conversations with the people building Bitcoin's financial services on how they manage their own Bitcoin, how they weigh risk and tradeoffs, and what they see coming next. MORE FROM ONRAMP MEDIA • The Last Trade and Final Settlement: https://www.youtube.com/@OnrampMedia • Signal vs Noise, live once a week: https://www.youtube.com/@SignalvsNoiseLIVE • Audio, every show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1690709152 or search Onramp Bitcoin Media on Spotify • News and data: https://onramp.media Onramp does not provide financial, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. This episode is for entertainment purposes only.