Crypto Lending Drops to $23.3 Billion as Tether Holds 68% of CeFi Mortgage Market in Q1

CeFi Crypto Lending Falls 6% as Maple, Nexo and Coinbase Achieve Market Share

Centralized finance (CeFi) crypto lending shrank within the first quarter of 2026, ending greater than a yr of growth as weaker digital asset markets pushed debtors to scale back leverage.

In response to information from Cryptoquant, complete CeFi mortgage books fell 6% from the earlier quarter to $23.3 billion, marking the {industry}’s first contraction since Q3 2024. The decline displays a extra cautious borrowing atmosphere as crypto markets stay beneath strain and customers reduce danger.

Tether stayed far forward of the sector, with a $15.8 billion mortgage e book and 68% market share. That dominance held regardless of a 7% decline in its lending e book throughout the quarter.

Maple Finance ranked second with $2.1 billion in loans and 9% market share. Nexo adopted with $1.8 billion and eight% share. Coinbase and Galaxy Digital every held about 6%, whereas bitcoin-backed lender Ledn accounted for 3%.

Debtors Pull Again as Market Weak point Bites

The quarter’s information present a lending market transferring by way of managed deleveraging slightly than a sudden credit score shock.

Mortgage books contracted throughout many of the sector. Galaxy Digital noticed the sharpest decline amongst main lenders, with its e book falling 21% quarter over quarter. Ledn adopted with a 19% drop.

Tether’s 7% decline was smaller in proportion phrases, however extra significant in greenback phrases due to its scale. Even after the pullback, its mortgage e book remained bigger than all different tracked CeFi lenders mixed.

The industry-wide decline suggests debtors are lowering publicity in response to decrease asset costs and tighter danger urge for food. In crypto lending, weaker markets typically result in decrease collateral values, diminished demand for leverage and extra conservative underwriting by lenders.

That dynamic has been seen throughout the broader digital asset market in 2026. Debtors that after used crypto-backed loans to fund trades, treasury methods or working wants seem like stepping again as volatility stays elevated.

Maple, Nexo and Coinbase Achieve Floor

Not each lender moved decrease.

Coinbase and Maple every expanded their mortgage books by roughly 6% in Q1. Nexo additionally grew, although extra modestly, with a rise of practically 1%. They had been the one main lenders within the coated group to report mortgage e book development throughout the quarter.

These good points translated into market-share shifts. Maple added 1 proportion level, Nexo gained 0.5 proportion factors, and Coinbase added 0.7 proportion factors.

Against this, Galaxy misplaced 1.1 proportion factors of market share, whereas Tether slipped 0.7 proportion factors.

The result’s a sector nonetheless closely concentrated round Tether, however with incremental good points going to platforms that continued lending by way of the downturn. Maple’s rise additionally factors to rising institutional demand for structured onchain credit score, whereas Coinbase’s growth displays its broader push into monetary companies round custody, buying and selling and collateralized merchandise.

The primary-quarter contraction doesn’t sign the tip of CeFi lending. It does present that development is turning into extra selective. In a weaker market, lenders with stronger distribution, clearer collateral controls, and institutional relationships are gaining share whereas extra uncovered stability sheets shrink.