New research finds a 'collateral gap' in Bitcoin lending
Key takeaways
- It feels like giving up something they spent years holding onto, the asset they kept through the 80% crashes of 2018 and 2022.
- Over 88% of holders based in U.S. and Australia said they would consider borrowing against their digital assets, but only 14% currently do.
- Ledn calls it the "collateral gap," a 6-to-1 ratio between the people open to borrowing and the people actually doing it.
New research finds a 'collateral gap' in Bitcoin lending New research finds a 'collateral gap' in Bitcoin lending · The Street Neo Sat, June 20, 2026 at 10:23 PM GMT+7 4 min read BTC-USD For most Bitcoin holders or HODLers, selling does not feel like taking profit.
It feels like giving up something they spent years holding onto, the asset they kept through the 80% crashes of 2018 and 2022. So instead of cashing out, a growing number are borrowing against their Bitcoin and keeping every coin.
Over 88% of holders based in U.S. and Australia said they would consider borrowing against their digital assets, but only 14% currently do. The findings come from research commissioned by Ledn, a Bitcoin-backed lending platform, which partnered with research firm Protocol Theory to survey 1,244 crypto holders across the U.S. and Australia.