A massive $1 trillion hidden market is waiting to be unlocked in bitcoin, says new report
Key takeaways
- A new survey found 88% of crypto holders would consider borrowing against their assets, while only 14% currently do.
- 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.
- Ledn estimates the bitcoin-backed consumer lending market currently stands at roughly $3 billion.
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.