Crypto Holders Turn to Loans as Market Conditions Weaken

Crypto holders turned to loans backed by digital assets as market conditions weakened in 2026. A report from CryptoQuant analyzed data from crypto lender CoinRabbit and found higher borrowing activity among both retail and high-net-worth users.

The average number of loans per user rose significantly, with retail users experiencing a 74% increase from 30.8 in 2025 to 53.5 in 2026. High-net-worth users saw an 18% rise, from 16.5 to 19.4.

CryptoQuant also found that repeat borrowing became more common across the platform, with a higher share of users taking multiple loans (65.1%) compared to the previous year (61.9%). The average time between loans for retail borrowers was 21 days, up from 11 days previously.