TL;DR
- Ethereum active loans expanded close to ten times since early 2023, rising from cycle lows to above $25 billion and confirming a return of real DeFi usage.
- The network continues to host the deepest liquidity and the largest share of decentralized borrowing, well ahead of Solana, Base and Arbitrum.
- The rebound signals that traders and protocols are deploying capital instead of keeping assets idle.
Ethereum active loans surge 10x, highlighting soaring on-chain demand and reinforcing the network position as the main marketplace for decentralized credit. Recent metrics from analytics platforms show that the value of assets currently borrowed and paying interest climbed above $25 billion during the first week of February, a level not seen since the previous market peak. The recovery suggests that activity is returning through organic usage rather than speculative token parking.
Ethereum's active loans have surpassed $28 billion, showing a 10x increase since 2023 pic.twitter.com/wB72nOH47P
— unfolded. (@cryptounfolded) February 3, 2026
Lending volumes on Ethereum cooled sharply during 2022 and part of 2023, when risk appetite across digital assets contracted. Since then, protocols such as Aave, Spark and Compound reported steady growth in utilization rates. Borrowing behavior usually reflects confidence in collateral values and in the stability of smart contracts, two elements that improved over the last 12 months.
Ethereum Active Loans And Market Structure
The expansion of credit on Ethereum is closely tied to the structure of its DeFi ecosystem. Large pools of stablecoins, professional market makers and audited applications create conditions that are difficult to replicate on younger chains. Borrowers often prefer environments where liquidations and interest models have been tested for more than five years. This maturity explains why, even with higher fees than some rivals, Ethereum remains the default venue for sizeable positions.
Data comparisons indicate that alternative networks gained users, yet their combined lending books are still a fraction of the Ethereum total. Solana and Base attracted retail experimentation, but institutional desks continue to route the bulk of leverage through Ethereum markets. The presence of layer-two solutions also reduced costs and kept activity within the broader Ethereum economy.
Competition Fees And User Behavior
Lower transaction costs on new blockchains increased pressure on Ethereum to improve efficiency. Developers responded with upgrades and rollups that processed millions of operations at cheaper rates. As a result, many borrowers returned without abandoning the security guarantees of the main chain. Traders note that reliability often outweighs small differences in fees when managing positions above $10 million.
The tenfold rise in active loans since 2023 signals that DeFi is again functioning as a source of working capital. Funds use borrowed stablecoins for arbitrage, while long-term holders seek yield on idle assets. Such behavior contrasts with periods when tokens remained untouched in wallets and markets depended mostly on speculation.
