Crypto lending remains one of the most critical yet opaque sectors in Web3.
As of Q4 2024, total crypto lending market size stands at $36.5B, still down 43% from the $64.4B peak in late 2021, but recovering steadily from the 2022 lows. 🧵
1/ The breakdown:
CeFi Lending: $11.2B
DeFi Lending: $19.1B
CDP Stablecoins (like DAI): $6.2B
Tether leads the CeFi sector with $8.2B in loans — over 73% market share. Galaxy and Ledn follow.
2/ Since bottoming at $1.8B in late 2022, DeFi lending has grown ~959% across 20 protocols on 12 chains.
The resurgence shows growing trust in on-chain lending models post-CeFi collapses like Celsius, Genesis, BlockFi, and Voyager.
3/ Key takeaways:
CeFi’s rebound is slow but ongoing ( 73% from bear market lows).
DeFi is leading innovation in transparency, automation, and risk management.
Galaxy provides rare insight into off-chain credit markets, a historically opaque segment.
While crypto lending is no longer at its peak, it’s laying the groundwork for the next generation of DeFi credit markets.