Security is not a feature. It's the architecture.
Every decision we make starts with one question: does this protect client assets?
The Five Pillars
No Rehypothecation
Your Bitcoin is yours. We never lend it out, use it as collateral for our own borrowing, or allow any third party to access it. It sits in a dedicated, segregated address for the duration of your loan. It is designed into the custody architecture itself, not just stated as policy.
No Altcoins
Our lending is built on Bitcoin, the most liquid, most battle-tested digital asset in existence. We do not accept altcoins, which introduce liquidity risk, correlation risk, and valuation complexity we refuse to take on.
No Customer Deposits
Reserve is not a bank. We do not accept deposits, we do not offer savings accounts, and we do not promise returns on idle capital. This means there is no 'bank run' scenario. Lender capital is deployed into specific, identified loans - not pooled into an opaque balance sheet.
No Corporate Leverage
Reserve does not borrow against its own balance sheet. We do not take on debt to fund operations or growth. The company operates from equity capital and operational cashflow. This eliminates the leverage risk that destroyed Celsius, BlockFi, and others.
No Yield Chasing
Conservative loan-to-value sits at the heart of the design: every loan is heavily overcollateralised. We could run looser and earn more - but that increases risk for everyone. We've chosen to be conservative because we intend to be here for decades, not just cycles.
Regulated, Segregated Custody
Bitcoin collateral is held by major, proven FCA-regulated custodians in segregated per-borrower wallets, legally separate from Reserve's operational funds and other clients' assets. Sterling drawdowns and repayments run through an FCA-authorised electronic money institution. Reserve is in discussions with additional qualified custodians to build out a multi-custodian panel.
What went wrong - and how Reserve is designed differently
Between 2022 and 2023, several major crypto lending platforms collapsed: Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager, and others. In every case, the failures shared common traits: rehypothecation of client assets, unsecured lending, corporate leverage, and commingled funds. Reserve was designed specifically to avoid each of these failure modes: segregated custody, no rehypothecation, no corporate leverage, no pooled deposits, so they cannot arise in the ordinary course of our model.
Transparency by default
Reserve is building toward regular proof-of-reserves attestations - cryptographic verification that all client collateral is held in full. Details on timing and methodology will be published on this page as we approach launch.