Ledn co-founder Mauricio Di Bartolomeo projected that the bitcoin-backed lending market could grow to $1 trillion in the next five to 10 years, arguing investment-grade bonds can unlock institutional investment in the sector.
Ledn issued Canada's first bitcoin-backed loan in 2018, since becoming one of the sector's largest lenders. The company estimates it now accounts for roughly 30% of the global market, originating $1.4 billion in loans during 2025.
However, the crypto lending sector remains contentious after suffering significant setbacks following a tumultuous year for centralized services in 2022 — a period that saw the bankruptcy of firms like Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager Digital, and Genesis.
In an interview with The Block's Gareth Jenkinson at BTC Prague last week, Di Bartolomeo said no single balance sheet could provide the liquidity needed to support a $1 trillion market. Instead, he pointed to mortgage and auto loans, where roughly 60% to 70% of mortgages and about 25% of auto loans are securitized and sold as bonds, as a model to follow. Ledn's thesis is that packaging bitcoin-backed loans into similar products could allow lenders to tap the multi-trillion-dollar asset-backed securities market and attract institutional capital to the sector.
