Ledn First-Quarter Loans Top Record $690M as Lending Market Snaps Back

As a seasoned crypto investor with a few scars from the 2022 market crash, I’ve learned to keep a close eye on the trends and developments in the industry. The recent surge in crypto lending, led by Ledn’s impressive $690 million quarterly performance, is an encouraging sign that the sector might be on the mend.

In Q1 2023, crypto lending platform Ledn saw a record-breaking loan volume of over $690 million, marking their most productive quarter since the company’s founding in 2018. This figure represents nearly five times the value of loans processed during the preceding three months.

In the opening quarter of 2024, Ledn experienced significant growth, nearly doubling the size of our loan portfolio since late 2022. Additionally, we have fortified our dominance within the market by catering to the escalating interest in digital asset financial services. As expressed by CEO Adam Reeds in a recent statement.

In 2022, the crypto lending market experienced a collapse coinciding with falling asset prices, leading major players like Celsius, BlockFi, and Genesis to file for bankruptcy. While centralized lenders such as Ledn are gradually overcoming the lingering negative perception, decentralized finance (DeFi) lending thrived, with platforms like Aave amassing a total value of $10 billion.

In the final quarter of 2023, institutional borrowing through crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) amounted to $399 million – a figure reported prior to the ETF approvals. Simultaneously, Ledn disbursed $100 million in loans to individual clients during the first quarter. Notably, $40 million of these funds originated from refinancing opportunities arising from the failure of Celsius.

In December, the company introduced a new loan service where clients can secure a loan using cryptocurrency as collateral. BitGo is responsible for safeguarding this digital asset.