Crypto-Backed Loans Soar as Investors Turn to Liquidity Amid Weakening Markets

Crypto-backed loans surged by 74% in 2026 as more investors turned to borrowing against their digital assets due to weakening crypto market conditions.

The report from CryptoQuant, based on CoinRabbit data, highlights a significant increase in crypto-backed loan activity among both retail and high-net-worth users.

On average, retail borrowers took out 53.5 loans per person in 2026, up from 30.8 the previous year, while high-net-worth users saw an 18% increase in average loans per borrower, rising to 19.4.

Zcash gained popularity as collateral among wealthy investors, surging to 24.2% after not appearing in the prior year's top collateral assets, while Bitcoin's share dropped from 57.8% to 30.5%.

BlackRock lowered its minimum in-kind Bitcoin conversion threshold for its spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, from $25 million to $1 million, and Bitwise also reduced its threshold from $100 million to $3 million.