Digital asset lending firm Ledn has accomplished the first-ever transaction of its variety within the asset-backed debt market, promoting $188 million in securitized bonds backed by Bitcoin (BTC).
This improvement emerges because the lending market confronts a risky atmosphere. Energetic loans have fallen to round $30 billion, and liquidation dangers are rising with persistent worth declines.
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Coinbase and Ledn Double Down on Crypto Lending
Bloomberg, citing sources accustomed to the matter, reported that the deal consists of two bonds. One portion, rated investment-grade, was priced at a selection of 335 foundation factors above the benchmark fee.
In keeping with a report from S&P International Rankings, the bonds are secured by a pledge of 4,078.87 Bitcoin. The truthful market worth stands at roughly $356.9 million.
The loans carry a weighted common rate of interest of 11.8%. Jefferies Monetary Group Inc. served because the lead supervisor, structuring agent, and preliminary purchaser.
“Ledn’s liquidation engine is an algorithmic buying and selling program that sources costs on a number of exchanges and/or is on the market by means of a number of buying and selling companions. Ledn has efficiently liquidated BTC collateral to repay 7,493 loans in its seven-year historical past, with a mean LTV at liquidation of 80.32%, a most LTV at liquidation of 84.66%, and has by no means skilled a loss. On a WA foundation, liquidation upon an LTV EOD has taken below 10 seconds, with minimal “worth slippage” in execution,” the report reads.
Past Ledn, Coinbase is increasing its footprint in crypto-backed lending. In a current replace, the change mentioned customers can borrow as much as $100,000 in USDC, the stablecoin issued by Circle, by pledging XRP (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Dogecoin (DOGE), or Litecoin (LTC) as collateral by means of the decentralized finance protocol Morpho.
The providing is on the market throughout the US, except New York, in response to the corporate.
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Crypto Lending Shrinks 36% as Energetic Loans Fall
This comes at a pivotal second for the crypto lending sector, which has contracted sharply amid broader market weak spot. Knowledge from TokenTerminal confirmed that as of February 2026, whole lively loans throughout lending protocols stand at roughly $30 billion, down 36% from the September peak of $46.96 billion.
The decline coincides with a sustained downtrend within the crypto market since October, which possible amplified the contraction. Falling asset costs scale back the greenback worth of posted collateral, tightening borrowing capability and contributing to liquidations or voluntary deleveraging.
This compresses excellent mortgage balances whereas mechanically decreasing whole worth locked when measured in USD phrases. Elevated volatility additional pressures leveraged positions, reinforcing the decline in lively loans.
“Fast mortgage refresher throughout risky markets: As BTC worth drops, LTV rises, Greater LTV = larger liquidation threat, Including collateral or repaying a part of the mortgage lowers LTV, Instruments exist to assist, however understanding the mechanics all the time comes first,” Ledn posted.
On the similar time, whole worth locked throughout lending protocols fell from greater than $89.7 billion in October to roughly $52 billion, in response to DefiLlama. This represented a decline of round 42%.
The decline displays each asset worth depreciation and capital outflows, as weaker market circumstances lowered threat urge for food, suppressed new borrowing demand, and prompted customers to deleverage or rotate into lower-risk belongings.