In the first quarter of the year, the NFT lending market reached an all-time high of $2.13 billion, marking a significant 43.6% increase compared to the previous quarter. The top players in the NFT lending industry are solidifying their positions, as shown by data from CoinGecko.
January saw a remarkable milestone with a total monthly NFT lending volume of $0.90 billion, surpassing the previous peak recorded in June 2023. Among the frontrunners, Blend stands out with an impressive 92.9% market share, boasting a monthly lending volume of $562.33 million in March alone.
While Blend takes the lead, other platforms like Arcade and NFTfi are also experiencing growth, albeit with smaller market shares of 2.8% ($16.94 million in volume) and 2.2% ($13.3 million in volume) respectively. Further down the list, X2Y2, BendDAO, and Parallel Finance (formerly ParaX) hold even smaller market shares of 0.8%, 0.8%, and 0.5% respectively.
To drive user engagement, NFT lending platforms are introducing new incentives to increase trading volumes. For example, Arcade, backed by Pantera Capital, launched the “Clash of Clans” airdrop initiative in late February, aiming to distribute ARCD tokens to 4,000 eligible wallets, each able to claim 750 ARCD tokens. Similarly, X2Y2 and BendDAO have also joined the trend by introducing their own tokens for their community members.
In other news, Binance has entered the NFT lending market with a loan service, expanding its offerings in the ever-growing NFT space.