Tether invests in Ledn to expand bitcoin-backed lending services

Tether expanded its investment portfolio with Ledn, one of the emerging leaders in BTC-backed loans. Tether has joined the growing sector of financial infrastructure that taps value without the need to sell the underlying digital assets. 

Tether has invested in Ledn, a company offering BTC-backed loans, custody, risk management, and liquidation protection. 

Tether has joined the growing industry of crypto-backed lending, allowing holders to tap the value of their BTC without selling. 

‘Our investment reflects Tether’s belief that financial innovation should empower people,’ said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.

‘Together with Ledn, we are expanding access to credit without requiring individuals to sell their digital assets. This approach strengthens self-custody and financial resilience, while creating real-world use cases that reinforce the long-term role of digital assets as essential pillars of a more inclusive global financial system.’

Before Tether’s involvement, Ledn had already originated over $2.8B in BTC-backed loans, including over $1B in 2025, its strongest year yet. Ledn is expanding its credit access for both retail and institutions. The lending hub expects significant growth in crypto-backed lending. 

Previously, the company had a debt-based funding round led by Sygnum. Ledn is registered in the USA and is already fully operational as a registered entity. To date, Ledn has raised over $104M in several rounds, of which $100M was raised during the 2021 bull market. 

BTC lending is still lagging behind the usage of ETH, SOL, or even smaller altcoins. The high value of BTC has discouraged holders from depositing their coins in lending protocols. Ledn, however, aims to offer the lowest possible risk, with a highly controlled liquidation system. 

Ledn expects to triple its 2024 loan levels, said Adam Reeds, co-founder and CEO.

‘We expect demand for bitcoin financial services to continue soaring, and this collaboration with Tether ensures that Ledn remains well-positioned to lead as the market continues to evolve and grow,’ said Reeds.

BTC lending is still limited

DeFi protocols based on BTC are still limited, and few projects use coins on the original main net. 

Currently, BTC-based DeFi only has $6.8B in value locked, despite the value of the leading coin. The main protocols holding BTC include Lombard, Babylon Labs, and Threshold Network. 

The main reason for the lack of BTC-native lending is the presence of various wrapped forms of BTC. The tokenized version is widely used on the Ethereum ecosystem, with a long-term tradition of vaults backed by WBTC. For that reason, tracking the real value of DeFi based on BTC is limited. The available BTC collateral is split across many protocols, with no oversight on the exact amount of loans. 

Aave currently carries $4.15B in WBTC collaterals, with $2.44B in available liquidity. The rapid growth of Ledn is catching up with Aave’s levels, signaling much faster growth. 

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