Best DeFi Lending Protocols in 2025

Written & Edited by
Nikita Valshonok

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Do you need a credit score or spend days to borrow or lend crypto? Absolutely not — DeFi lending allows users to instantly borrow crypto directly from their wallets by using crypto collateral, unlocking liquidity on their assets, or earning interest by lending their crypto. In this article, you'll learn what crypto lending platforms are, how they differ, and find a list of the best DeFi lending protocols.
6 results found
Summary of the Best DeFi Lending Platforms
![]() | 65 | XVS | 8 | $1.71 billion | Explore Venus |
![]() | 5 | YLDS | 1 | N/A | ExploreFigure Markets |
![]() | 14 | AAVE | 15 | $18.25 billion | Explore AAVE |
![]() | 84+ | SUMR | 4 | $199.67 million | Explore Summer.fi |
![]() | 17 | COMP | 7 | $2.37 billion | Explore Compound |
12 | SPK (not launched) | 2 | $2.52 billion | Explore SparkLend |
What are DeFi lending platforms?
DeFi lending platforms are decentralized applications (dApps) where users can lend and borrow cryptocurrency without intermediaries. There are two types of users: borrowers, who borrow cryptocurrency for a specified annual percentage rate, and lenders, who provide cryptocurrency to the platform's liquidity pool to earn interest. These funds are used to issue loans to borrowers, which generates income.
How crypto lending works
Crypto lending platforms operate as protocols that run on smart contracts, ensuring automation and decentralization. Unlike traditional lending systems, there are no intermediaries, and users interact with DeFi lending platforms through their non-custodial wallets, which connect them to the apps.The borrowing process in DeFi follows an overcollateralization system, meaning borrowers must provide more collateral than the loan amount to secure their loan.
For example, if a user borrows 1,000 USDT, they need to deposit ETH worth 1,200 USDT as collateral. This system is based on the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, which represents the percentage of the loan amount relative to the value of the collateral. In this case, the LTV would be 83% (1,000 USDT / 1,200 USDT * 100). Each platform sets a maximum LTV threshold, which determines how much a user can borrow against their collateral. If the value of the collateral drops and the LTV exceeds a critical level, the position becomes at risk of liquidation. Liquidation occurs when the platform automatically sells the entire collateral to cover the outstanding debt, ensuring that lenders' funds remain secure.
To help borrowers monitor their risk level, lending platforms use a health factor (also referred to as a health rate), a numerical metric that indicates how safe a position is from liquidation. A higher health factor represents a less vulnerable position, while a lower one means the collateral is at risk. If the value of the collateral drops and the health factor falls below 1, liquidation occurs. The health factor mainly depends on the value of the collateral, which is influenced by the volatility of the crypto assets used as collateral and their correlation.
What is the point of crypto loans?
Crypto lending platforms are a useful tool for crypto investors, enabling various DeFi strategies. One common question among beginners is why take a crypto loan if the collateral required is higher than the borrowed amount. Let’s consider the main reasons:
- Efficient capital usage: Users can obtain liquidity on their assets without selling them. For instance, if you have BTC but need stablecoins for a short-term campaign where you can farm rewards by locking them up, instead of selling your BTC position, you can take a loan in stablecoins using BTC as collateral and use them as needed. This also applies to other scenarios, such as yield farming, staking, and more.
- Earning income through lending: By supplying crypto assets to lending platforms, users can earn annual percentage income in the form of interest.
Benefits of using DeFi lending protocols
- Self-custody: DeFi lending protocols allow users to lend and borrow without the need for KYC. Users only need to connect their non-custodial wallet to access the platform, maintaining full control over their funds.
- Accessibility: There are no credit scores or long waiting times for approval, as is common in traditional finance systems. In DeFi, any user can instantly and at any time borrow crypto or provide liquidity, even without going through sign-up processes.
- Higher returns: Interest rates on DeFi lending are often significantly higher than those in traditional finance. Additionally, many lending protocols offer extra rewards to lenders in their native tokens or provide separate airdrops for platform users, further increasing profitability.
Conclusion
Lending and borrowing are among the most important aspects of any financial system, including the crypto market. Lending allows both borrowers and lenders to use their capital more efficiently. However, it is important to remember that lending also comes with risks, such as platform hacks or collateral liquidation, which can be influenced by the high volatility of assets. Additionally, borrowers should always monitor their health factor and, besides that, carefully review the platform's tools to understand how to use them correctly and avoid accidental losses. It is also crucial to choose a reliable and user-friendly platform, with the best options covered in our Top Picks.
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