A massive $1 trillion hidden market is waiting to be unlocked in bitcoin, says new report

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email A massive $1 trillion hidden market is waiting to be unlocked in bitcoin, says new report Ledn forecasts the bitcoin-backed lending market could grow to $1 trillion within a decade as new research highlights strong borrower demand. By Jamie Crawley , AI Boost | Edited by Stephen Alpher May 24, 2026, 3:00 p.m. 2 min read Make preferred on (Christian Dubovan/Unsplash) What to know : Ledn forecasts the consumer bitcoin-backed lending market could grow from roughly $3 billion today to as much as $1 trillion within 10 years. A new survey found 88% of crypto holders would consider borrowing against their assets, while only 14% currently do. The biggest barriers to adoption are concerns over volatility, liquidation risk and regulatory uncertainty. Crypto lender Ledn says the consumer bitcoin-backed loan market could grow nearly 300-fold to as much as $1 trillion within the next decade, as demand for borrowing against digital assets far outpaces actual usage. The forecast accompanied new research conducted by consumer insights firm Protocol Theory , which surveyed 1,244 cryptocurrency holders across the U.S. and Australia between February and March this year. The study found that while 88% of respondents said they would consider using a crypto-backed loan or credit product, only 14% currently do so, revealing what Ledn described as a “6-to-1 consideration-to-adoption gap.” Ledn estimates the bitcoin-backed consumer lending market currently stands at roughly $3 billion. By comparison, Galaxy Research previously estimated the broader crypto lending market reached an all-time high of $73.6 billion in the third quarter of 2025. The sector, however, still carries the scars of the 2022 crypto credit collapse, when major lenders including Celsius Network , Voyager Digital and BlockFi either filed for bankruptcy or were forced into restructuring after crypto prices plunged and liquidity evaporated. The failures wiped out billions of dollars in customer funds and severely damaged trust in centralized crypto lending models, prompting regulators globally to tighten scrutiny of the sector. Ledn’s report suggests rebuilding that trust remains the industry’s biggest challenge. “The demand side of the equation is solved,” Ledn co-founder Mauricio Di Bartolomeo said in a statement. “What’s still catching up is the trust infrastructure that gives borrowers the confidence to act.” The report argues that crypto-backed lending remains underdeveloped relative to the scale of digital asset ownership globally. The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at approximately $2.68 trillion as of May 2, according to data cited in the research. The findings suggest the main obstacles preventing wider adoption are not lack of awareness or understanding, but confidence-related concerns. Among non-borrowers, the most commonly cited barriers were worries about managing crypto price volatility, liquidation risk and regulatory uncertainty surrounding crypto-backed loans. Respondents also said platform reputation, transparency around loan terms, custody safeguards and risk management practices mattered more than rates or product features when selecting a lending provider. The report frames crypto-backed borrowing as a digital asset equivalent of securities-backed lending or home equity borrowing in traditional finance: accessing liquidity without selling a long-term asset position. Crypto News AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards . For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy . More For You Crypto rails are becoming the default payment layer for AI agents, report says By Krisztian Sandor | Edited by Jamie Crawley 2 hours ago A new report from Keyrock says stablecoins on blockchain rails are becoming the go-to payment layer for AI agents as traditional card rails struggle to handle micropayments. What to know : AI agents settled more than $73 million across 176 million blockchain transactions over the past year, according to Keyrock, though that remains a tiny fraction of the global payments market. Coinbase, Stripe, Google and Visa are building competing infrastructure for machine-to-machine payments as software agents increasingly buy data, computing power... Read full story Latest Crypto News AI is speeding up the quantum threat to crypto, security experts warn 1 hour ago Crypto rails are becoming the default payment layer for AI agents, report says 2 hours ago Bitcoin heads higher as President Trump announces Iran peace agreement 18 hours ago Bitcoin is ready to beat stocks and bonds again after underperformance against Wall Street 20 hours ago Crypto trader sees Hyperliquid, AI tokens leading next altcoin rally May 23, 2026 Clarity Act could spark a boom in crypto ‘yield-as-a-service’ May 23, 2026 Top Stories SEC Commissioner Peirce counters views that crypto rule will foster synthetic tokens May 22, 2026 Robinhood Crypto COO Tanya Denisova is leaving company amid revenue slowdown May 22, 2026 F2Pool founder who controls 11% of bitcoin's hashrate to lead first SpaceX mission to Mars May 22, 2026 Why Minnesota is empowering local banks to fight Wall Street for crypto revenue May 22, 2026 Trump Media moved but 'did not sell' $205 million in bitcoin amid rising losses on crypto bets May 22, 2026