Tether’s Ledn Investment Marks a Major Push Into Bitcoin-Backed Lending Amid a $60B Market Outlook

Surging Loan Demand Puts Bitcoin-Backed Credit in Focus

TL;DR

• Tether confirmed a strategic investment in Ledn as Bitcoin-backed lending demand accelerates past $1B in 2025, with $2.8B lifetime originations.
• Ledn reported $392M in Q3 loans, $100M+ ARR, and projections that its loan book will nearly triple from 2024 levels.
• Tether highlighted excess reserves of $6.8B, year-to-date profit above $10B, and expanding ambitions beyond stablecoins into credit infrastructure.

Tether’s move to take a strategic position in Ledn landed at a moment when Bitcoin-backed lending has started to break away from its niche reputation and mature into a genuine credit vertical with growing demand. The announcement on November 18, 2025 centered on Tether’s intention to expand real-world financial infrastructure that lets individuals draw liquidity against their digital assets without selling them, a structure that has become increasingly relevant as crypto holders look for ways to keep exposure to Bitcoin while tapping credit. Paolo Ardoino framed the investment as a step toward broader financial inclusion, saying the company sees this as part of its mission to empower users globally through systems that preserve asset ownership while enabling access to capital.

Ledn supplied the growth metrics that anchor this trend. The lender crossed $2.8 billion in lifetime originations and recorded over $1 billion in loans this year, its strongest annual performance to date. The standout number came from the third quarter, with $392 million issued in just those three months, nearly matching the firm’s entire 2024 volume. That acceleration pushed Ledn’s annual recurring revenue above $100 million, giving the company a level of financial stability not often seen in a sector still recovering from the collapses of Celsius, Voyager, and Genesis. CEO Adam Reeds noted that Ledn’s loan book is on track to nearly triple compared to last year, reinforcing the firm’s decision to lean deeper into Bitcoin-secured credit products.

Market projections support the shift. Analysts now expect the broader crypto-collateral lending market to expand from $7.8 billion in 2024 to more than $60 billion by 2033, driven by demand for liquidity solutions that do not require asset liquidation. Those dynamics have played directly into Tether’s strategic direction. Recent attestations showed year-to-date net profit exceeding $10 billion, excess reserves of more than $6.8 billion, and a circulating USDT supply above $174 billion, supported by $135 billion in U.S. Treasury holdings. The numbers reinforce why Tether is positioning itself deeper inside the credit ecosystem rather than remaining only a liquidity issuer. As crypto price sentiment continues to swing with institutional flows and coin market cap rotations, the firm is looking to secure a foothold in markets where loan demand is less influenced by short-term volatility and more by structural adoption.

Ledn emphasized that its model relies on strict custody, liquidation, and risk-management controls, an approach shaped directly by the failures of earlier centralized lenders. Tether highlighted that posture as a core reason for the partnership, presenting Ledn as one of the few companies that survived the previous market downturn without losing customer funds. For retail and institutional borrowers, the appeal remains straightforward: borrowing against Bitcoin preserves long-term exposure while providing working capital, investment liquidity, or operating runway. The setup has become increasingly common as traders monitor crypto price index swings, rebalance holdings, and gauge the market against surges or retracements in the broader coin market cap landscape.

The investment signals more than a minority stake. It represents Tether’s effort to move into a sector where demand continues to grow even when crypto price action cools. The company’s messaging framed this as part of a broader shift toward building credit rails that can operate independently of the speculative mania that often defines digital asset cycles. As Ledn continues scaling and the market for Bitcoin-backed credit pushes toward multi-billion-dollar projections, the partnership places both firms at the center of a lending model that is steadily becoming one of the most durable use-cases in the sector.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.