Centralized finance (CeFi) crypto lending shrank in the first quarter of 2026, ending more than a year of expansion as weaker digital asset markets pushed borrowers to reduce leverage.

According to data from Cryptoquant, total CeFi loan books fell 6% from the previous quarter to $23.3 billion, marking the industry’s first contraction since Q3 2024. The decline reflects a more cautious borrowing environment as crypto markets remain under pressure and users scale back risk.

Tether stayed far ahead of the sector, with a $15.8 billion loan book and 68% market share. That dominance held despite a 7% decline in its lending book during the quarter.

Maple Finance ranked second with $2.1 billion in loans and 9% market share. Nexo followed with $1.8 billion and 8% share. Coinbase and Galaxy Digital each held about 6%, while bitcoin-backed lender Ledn accounted for 3%.

Source: Cryptoquant

The quarter’s data show a lending market moving through controlled deleveraging rather than a sudden credit shock.

Loan books contracted across most of the sector. Galaxy Digital saw the sharpest decline among major lenders, with its book falling 21% quarter over quarter. Ledn followed with a 19% drop.

Tether’s 7% decline was smaller in percentage terms, but more meaningful in dollar terms because of its scale. Even after the pullback, its loan book remained larger than all other tracked CeFi lenders combined.

The industry-wide decline suggests borrowers are reducing exposure in response to lower asset prices and tighter risk appetite. In crypto lending, weaker markets often lead to lower collateral values, reduced demand for leverage and more conservative underwriting by lenders.

That dynamic has been visible across the broader digital asset market in 2026. Borrowers that once used crypto-backed loans to fund trades, treasury strategies or operating needs appear to be stepping back as volatility remains elevated.

Source: Cryptoquant

Not every lender moved lower.

Coinbase and Maple each expanded their loan books by roughly 6% in Q1. Nexo also grew, though more modestly, with an increase of nearly 1%. They were the only major lenders in the covered group to report loan book growth during the quarter.

Those gains translated into market-share shifts. Maple added 1 percentage point, Nexo gained 0.5 percentage points, and Coinbase added 0.7 percentage points.

By contrast, Galaxy lost 1.1 percentage points of market share, while Tether slipped 0.7 percentage points.

The result is a sector still heavily concentrated around Tether, but with incremental gains going to platforms that continued lending through the downturn. Maple’s rise also points to growing institutional demand for structured onchain credit, while Coinbase’s expansion reflects its broader push into financial services around custody, trading and collateralized products.

The first-quarter contraction does not signal the end of CeFi lending. It does show that growth is becoming more selective. In a weaker market, lenders with stronger distribution, clearer collateral controls, and institutional relationships are gaining share while more exposed balance sheets shrink.

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