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Set your brief once. We model the same decision across every real path — borrow against it, sell it, hold an ETF, self-custody, or park the proceeds in a dollar product — and score them on the four axes that actually decide it: cost, tax, risk, and control. Every number is sourced; share the result as a link.
For a balanced holder needing $25,580 against 1 BTC ($63,951), the cheapest way to raise the cash is to borrow against it via Coinbase / Morpho on a variable DeFi rate — roughly $2,558 at today's rate over 24 mo (it floats, so it is not a fixed quote), and you keep your Bitcoin. The ETF, self-custody and dollar-product paths below do not put cash in your hand — they are what to do with the position instead.
$0 tax — you never sell, so no capital-gains event.
Full Coinbase / Morpho report →You forfeit all future upside on the 0.4 BTC you sell.
Full Spot sale report →No keys, no liquidation — but the custodian holds the bitcoin, not you.
Full IBIT (BlackRock) report →Raises no cash on its own — it is the control benchmark the others are measured against.
Full AnchorWatch report →Yield is income — taxed as you earn it, and it is not Bitcoin exposure.
Full Strategy STRC report →COST is total $ over the 24 mohorizon (interest, expense drag, or fee — minus any yield income). TAX is what you owe now. RISK is the inverse of each path’s overall safety score where one exists. CONTROL is a 0–100 editorial axis: keeping your keys scores high, handing the asset away scores zero.
| Path | Cost over horizon | Tax now | Risk (10 − score) | Control (0–100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borrow against it Coinbase / Morpho | $2,558 | $0 | 3.7 | 80 |
| Sell it Spot sale | $9,209 | $4,604 | — | 0 |
| Hold an ETF IBIT (BlackRock) | $320 | $0 | 1.3 | 0 |
| Self-custody it AnchorWatch | $250 | $0 | 1.8 | 100 |
| Park in a dollar product Strategy STRC | +$3,453 | $1,594 | 2.1 | 0 |
Each bubble is one path. X is total cost over the 24 mohorizon (further right = more expensive). Y is how much control you keep (higher = more control). Bubble size is the path’s overall safety score. The ringed bubble is the winner for your posture. Upper-left — cheap and high-control — is the sweet spot; bottom-right is the trap.
Every figure on the five paths in this scenario traces to a primary document. These are the ones we read — open any of them.
USDC loans powered by Morpho, BTC/cbBTC collateral flow, up to $5M BTC borrowing limit, rates as low as 5%, no due dates, U.S. availability excluding New York, 86% liquidation LTV, and one-time processing fee language
Eligibility, variable interest-rate model, BTC and ETH collateral support, $5M BTC limit, processing-fee treatment, repayment model, and Morpho/Base dependency
Collateral wrapping to cbBTC, Morpho lockup, 86% LLTV, 4.38% liquidation penalty, and collateral-withdrawal mechanics
Official product page used for fund name, exchange, net assets, fee, premium/discount, shares outstanding, and bitcoin trust data.
Market-data snapshot used to cross-check AUM, shares outstanding, price, volume, expense ratio, and inception date.
SEC filing index for prospectus, annual, and periodic reporting related to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF.
Cumulative dividends with stopper, the $101 optional-redemption call ceiling, monthly rate reset floored at SOFR, and STRC’s #2 waterfall position behind STRF.
Return-of-capital tax treatment (no E&P), the “no obligation” trading-band disclaimer, and the IRS fast-pay-stock risk factor.
Q1 2026 STRC dividend payments and the BTC-coverage figures behind the ~7.1x / ~4.1x stack coverage.
Bitcoin holdings of 843,738 BTC at $63.87B aggregate cost as of 2026-05-17.
pledgecalculateComparison → calculateLoanScenario. Capital-gains tax uses the single labelled formula (price − basis) × BTC × rate. ETF expense drag = position × expense ratio × years. Stablecoin yield income = principal × yield × years, taxed at your cap-gains rate as a proxy for income tax. The self-custody setup figure is an illustrative one-time estimate, not a fetched quote. Estimates only — confirm live terms with each provider before acting.