Ledn Reports $1.16 Billion in Digital Asset Loans in H1 2023

Crypto lending platform Ledn announced that during the first half of this year, it processed $1.16 billion in digital asset loans, largely driven by institutional activity.

“Institutional loans amounted to $969 million,” Ledn said in a statement Thursday. “This was spurred by the approval of various spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. and the subsequent rally in BTC (+4.07%) price. These developments allowed Ledn to process several hundred million in institutional loans to ETF market makers.”

As of Thursday, the price of Bitcoin has risen to nearly $65,000, up from about $44,000 at the beginning of the year, according to The Block Price Page.

In May, Ledn mentioned it had processed over $690 million in loans.

While accounting for only a small part of its overall business, Ledn’s retail lending division has shown growth this year. In Q2, Ledn processed $85 million in retail loans, compared to $65.5 million in Q1.

“This significant lending volume reflects a growing trend of investors taking out Bitcoin and Ethereum-backed loans to access capital to leverage investment opportunities while preserving the growth potential of the underlying collateral assets,” Ledn also stated.

Ledn emphasized that it vets institutions using a rigorous due diligence process. Primarily focusing on Bitcoin, the company managed to survive the significant downturn of 2022 that severely impacted other crypto lending firms.