Bitcoin-Backed Lending Moves Mainstream: From Trading Finance to Tuition, Business Working Capital and Real-World Needs

Bitcoin-backed lending is expanding from crypto-financial scenarios centered on trading and investment to real-world credit needs such as tuition, living expenses, corporate working capital, and real estate, with a notable shift in market use cases. Institutions including SALT Lending and Ledn report that a growing number of borrowers are choosing to pledge BTC for liquidity rather than selling their holdings. Ledn has issued over $11 billion in cumulative loans since its founding in 2018 and expects the scale to grow to $1 trillion in the coming years. Its clients range from entrepreneurs and institutional investors seeking working capital to individuals borrowing to pay for children's education, real estate investment, and short-term living expenses. This trend indicates that BTC's financial attributes are extending further from a "tradable asset" to a "pledgeable asset." Borrowers aim to unlock its value without selling BTC while retaining potential upside exposure. Meanwhile, institutions such as SALT are promoting fixed-rate, long-tenor products, bringing crypto-backed loans closer to traditional credit models like residential mortgages. Coinbase has also recently launched fixed-rate BTC-backed loans via Morpho. Ledn further expects that similar models may expand from BTC to traditional hard assets such as gold in the future, as the pledged-asset lending market continues to broaden.