Report: Tether, Galaxy, Ledn Lead CeFi Crypto Lending, On-Chain DeFi Lending Soars

BlockBeats News: On April 15th, Galaxy Research, a digital asset investment company, released a report highlighting that the size of the cryptocurrency lending market is still far below the level seen before the harsh crypto winter of 2022-2023. However, beneath the surface, signs of recovery are emerging, especially in the decentralized sector. The report reveals that by the end of 2024, the total size of the cryptocurrency lending market was $36.5 billion, including loans backed by cryptocurrency collateralized stablecoins. This is a significant drop from the peak of $64.4 billion during the 2021 bull market when crypto lending surged due to speculative frenzy.

The market downturn was driven by the collapse of major lending institutions such as Celsius, BlockFi, and Genesis, with a few large players dominating the centralized finance (CeFi) lending space. The report states that Tether holds the largest market share, followed by Galaxy and Ledn. These three entities account for nearly 90% of the $11.2 billion CeFi loan book. It is worth noting that CeFi loans have decreased by 68% from their peak of $34.8 billion in early 2022.

However, real growth is happening on-chain. Decentralized lending protocols allow users to borrow cryptocurrency assets by locking in collateral, operating 24/7 without relying on centralized entities. Such protocols are rapidly evolving. Galaxy reports that since the market bottomed out at the end of 2022, outstanding DeFi loans have surged by 959%, rising from $1.8 billion to $19.1 billion, covering 20 applications and 12 blockchains.