Crypto Lending Shrinks $11.3B in Q2 as Market Continues Gradual Contraction

Crypto lending has experienced a significant decline in Q2 2026, shrinking by $11.33 billion, or 16.78%, to $56.16 billion.

This represents a third consecutive quarterly drop and leaves the market 40% below its peak in Q3 2025. DeFi lending took the biggest hit, falling 27.61% to $20.43 billion, while CeFi loans declined 9.62% to $22.98 billion.

According to Galaxy Research, the decline looks far more orderly than in 2022, when crypto lending collapsed by over 55% in a single quarter. The current situation is characterized as 'controlled deleveraging' rather than a repeat of the cascading failures that wrecked lenders such as Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager during the 2022 bear market.