According to reports from The Block, 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. The company estimates it currently accounts for roughly 30% of the global market, having originated $1.4 billion in loans during 2025. As reported by The Block, Di Bartolomeo emphasized that no single balance sheet could provide the liquidity needed to support a $1 trillion market, instead pointing to traditional securitization models as a viable solution.
As reported by The Block, Di Bartolomeo referenced traditional securitization markets where approximately 60% to 70% of mortgages and about 25% of auto loans are securitized and sold as bonds. The Ledn thesis suggests packaging bitcoin-backed loans into similar products could allow lenders to tap the multi-trillion-dollar asset-backed securities market and attract institutional capital. According to The Block, the company's bond product uses Fidelity as a custodian and Jefferies as the bookrunner, representing the first bitcoin debt instrument rated by S&P Global with an investment-grade rating.
According to The Block, Ledn's investment-grade bond was three times oversubscribed during marketing in February, despite being issued during a market correction. The bond received an investment-grade rating from S&P Global, which is significant because many institutions, including pension funds and endowments, allocate capital specifically to investment-grade debt securities. As reported by The Block, during investor meetings held during the downturn, potential investors expressed concerns about system stability during market stress, but the zero loan defaults observed during the bitcoin drawdown helped alleviate these concerns.
As reported by The Block, the crypto lending sector remains contentious following significant setbacks in 2022, including the bankruptcy of firms like Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager Digital, and Genesis. Ledn issued Canada's first bitcoin-backed loan in 2018 and has since become one of the sector's largest lenders. According to The Block, Di Bartolomeo believes the securitization approach could deliver cheaper rates on loans over time by opening access to institutional funding sources beyond traditional bitcoin exchange-traded funds or strategy-style preferred-stock offerings.
