- The total crypto-lending market was estimated at $36.5bn.
- Tether’s share of the CeFi segment rose from under 20% in Q2 2021 to around ~70%.
- Since the bear-market low, the DeFi metric has jumped 959% to $19.1bn.
Tether, Galaxy and Ledn accounted for 88.6% of the CeFi segment of the digital-asset lending market, according to Galaxy Digital.
read the entire epic report by @glxyresearch’s wizard @ZackPokorny_ , which also dives deep into DeFi and other types of lending, mechanics, use cases, and much morehttps://t.co/OhDgkwMzPW
— Alex Thorn (@intangiblecoins) April 14, 2025
By end-2024, the crypto-lending market was estimated at $36.5bn, 43% below the 2021 peak of $64.4bn.
The figure includes CDP-based stablecoins such as DAI.
Analysts linked the four-year decline to a shrinking pool of lenders and reduced borrowing demand from institutions and retail users.
CeFi
By analysts’ estimates, by the end of 2024 the volume of loans in the CeFi sector was $11.2bn—68% less than the $34.8bn peak in 2022.
The largest centralised lenders include Tether, Galaxy, Ledn, Coinbase and Maple. The first three made up 88.6% of the CeFi market ($9.9bn).
Tether’s role
The USDT issuer entered the sector after the collapse of major platforms such as BlockFi, Celsius Network and Genesis Global Capital, following the 2022 crypto-price crash and poor risk management.
By the end of 2022, Tether’s share of the CeFi segment had risen to ~70%, up from less than 20% in Q2 2021.
«They began their activities during the downturn and became a necessary source of liquidity in this market», the report says.
Tether noted that it regularly discloses the existence of secured loans in its attestation reports. These are short-term and subject to strict risk management, including reserve and liquidation mechanisms.
Tether has never faced loan defaults, its representatives emphasised.
DeFi
DeFi accounted for over 60% of the market. Since the bear-market low of $1.8bn, the metric has risen 959% to $19.1bn. The tally covers 20 platforms across 12 blockchains.
Outlook
Analysts offered several forecasts for 2025:
- In CeFi—the repeal of the SEC SAB121 rule and the launch of crypto ETFs used as collateral have laid the groundwork for intensifying competition.
- In DeFi—greater focus on tokenising off-chain debt and expanding the use cases for such tokens.
«In the long term, the cryptocurrency lending market faces a new phase of growth, characterised by improved risk management […] and clearer regulation. As it develops, the sector may become a bridge between TradFi and the emerging digital-asset ecosystem, fostering wider adoption of financial services built on it», the specialists concluded.
In March, the FDIC allowed “crypto-related activities”. The list of activities permitted by default included lending.
In January, miner MARA sent 7,377 BTC (16.4% of its bitcoin reserves at the time) to lending services to earn a “modest” additional income.