Rising rates in Japan makes crypto lending yields more attractive than traditional savings.
Backpack, a well-known crypto wallet and exchange app, has announced today, December 22, 2025, through social media platform X, that it has officially launched its much awaited Borrow/Lend feature in Japan. This update ends simple “buy and hold” habits for crypto users, and offers new ways to earn returns without selling BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and USDC.
As this feature was not available in Japan, the crypto community there felt a little left out, but with this feature being rolled out, the community members can now join Backpack’s Point rewards program, widening access during changing global market conditions worldwide.
Backpack’s Borrow/Lend works on a very simple but effective DeFi-style system.
Lending: The users put supported assets such as the BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, USDC and more into the platform so that the user can earn changing returns. These rates move with market demand, giving an easy way to earn from unused crypto.
Borrowing: The users lock their crypto as a security so that they can borrow stablecoins such as USDC. This “use without selling” method allows the users to have easy access to the cash, which can be used for trading, spending or protecting. All of this, without selling assets or missing any future gains.
The platform made sure to highlight safety with clear alerts. The risk warning clearly states that borrowing carries liquidation risk if collateral prices fall apart, which may lead to automatic selling.
The platform also recommends carefully assessing the risk checks, which includes tracking loan-to-value ratios and market swings.
According to the X announcement, the first release will only support Borrow/Lend. Spot trading and perpetual contracts are unavailable as of now, mainly to keep things simple.
A key benefit of using this feature is access to Backpack Points. These points are a part of the platform’s reward system. Both lenders and borrowers earn points that can be used later for rewards, airdrops, or even lower fees. All of this helps drive fast growth.
Japan was blocked earlier due to all the regulatory restrictions. However, with this rollout, that restriction has been lifted and hence now Japanese users can now easily earn points by lending or borrowing features. With this move, the platform is opening itself to one of Asia’s largest crypto markets.
This launch has come at a time when the crypto market is struggling and many of the investors are looking for ways to earn returns as much as possible. Bitcoin is finding it hard to push higher than $88,000 mark, and Ethereum has seen mixed demand despite ETF activity. Due to all of this, holders do not want their crypto to sit idle. With Backpack’s new feature, users can earn without selling and this could attract a large amount of funds, especially as total money locked in DeFi is already above $150 billion worldwide.
For the users in Japan, the timing matters even more. Japan’s central bank, which is led by Governor Kazuo Ueda, has already started raising interest rates after years of ultra-low policy. Rates were recently increased to 0.75% as the bank tries to control inflation and support the weakening yen.
As borrowing yen becomes more expensive, crypto lending platforms such as Backpack become more attractive to the users. The users here can earn more yearly returns by lending crypto such as BTC or SOL and receiving USDC, which is far higher than what regular savings accounts usually offer in Japan.
