Crypto Credit and Borrowing to Surge, Predicts Bitwise CEO

Crypto Borrowing and Credit Sector Set to Surge

Bitwise Asset Management CEO Hunter Horsley predicts that the next major growth sector in crypto will be borrowing and credit. He expects this trend to become significant within six to twelve months and continue expanding over the coming years.

The crypto market holds nearly $4 trillion in assets, prompting investors to prefer borrowing against their holdings rather than selling.
The tokenization sector is accelerating, allowing small investors to borrow directly on-chain as traditional assets like stocks become tokenized.

Horsley believes this shift will fundamentally reshape global capital markets.

DeFi Lending Growth

The total crypto lending market reached approximately $36.5 billion by late 2024, recovering from a downturn post-2021 peak.
On-chain borrowing grew by 959% since late 2022, hitting $19.1 billion by the end of last year.
Aave leads Ethereum’s lending activity with 75% market share and a 15% monthly TVL increase to around $41.9 billion.
Another key player, Morpho, reported a 34% rise in TVL, reaching $8.5 billion.
Lending and borrowing tokens experienced a 3.65% market cap surge recently, with Kamino Finance gaining 37% in value over the past week.

Growth in Tokenized Credit

Tokenized credit markets are expanding amid clearer regulatory frameworks, with real-world asset loans increasing from $5 billion in 2022 to over $24 billion by mid-2025.
Tokenized Treasury products have doubled to about $4 billion, with firms like Franklin Templeton integrating money-market funds onto blockchains.