CeFi Lending Market Soars to $25B, Highest Level Since Early 2022

Source: ETHNews Original Title: CeFi Lending Market Soars to $25B, Highest Level Since Early 2022 Original Link: https://www.ethnews.com/cefi-lending-market-soars-to-25b-highest-level-since-early-2022/ The centralized crypto-lending sector has mounted an unexpected comeback, with new data showing the market has reached its strongest position since the final stretch of the last bull cycle.

According to the latest Galaxy Research chart, aggregate outstanding loans across major CeFi lenders climbed to nearly $25 billion by the end of Q3 2025, marking the highest reading since Q1 2022.

This rebound reflects a profound shift from the post-contagion unwinding that followed the failures of firms like Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi, and Genesis.

The chart clearly illustrates how early-2021 lending volumes surged past $35 billion before collapsing throughout 2022. Since then, the industry has transitioned into a new chapter defined by controlled growth, greater transparency, and regulated institutional participation.

Top Lenders: Tether Leads the 2025 League Table

Alongside the data visualization, the CeFi “league table” reveals which platforms dominate the revived lending market:

• Tether sits at the top, taking the No. 1 position.
• Nexo follows in second place.
• Galaxy claims the third position.
• Other active lenders include Maple, Two Prime, Coinbase, Ledn, Sygnum, Unchained, Arch, and several others.

This ranking reflects a notable industry shift. The market is now led by firms with deeper liquidity reserves, more conservative risk frameworks, and greater transparency compared to the explosive, loosely regulated lending boom of 2020-2021.

Market Structure Looks Stronger Than Previous Cycles

The overall tone of the commentary accompanying the chart emphasizes pride in the transparency and accuracy of the data inputs, a major contrast to prior cycles when loan books were opaque, over-leveraged, or entirely undisclosed.

Instead of relying on speculation, lenders in 2025 appear to be offering clearer reporting practices and verifiable exposure breakdowns.

The visual chart also shows:

• A long recovery period through 2023 and 2024 with modest loan book sizes.
• A powerful breakout beginning in early 2025.
• A steep climb into Q3 2025, driven primarily by high-confidence lenders such as Tether and Nexo.

Notably, the biggest legacy players from the previous bull run (Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager) no longer contribute meaningfully, highlighting the structural turnover in CeFi.

A New Era for Centralized Lending?

With lending volumes expanding for five consecutive quarters and approaching pre-crisis levels, CeFi appears to have entered a new phase, one built on stability rather than aggressive yield promises.

If this trajectory continues into Q4, the sector could surpass early-2022 levels, firmly signaling that institutional lending demand has returned to crypto for the first time in nearly three years.