Wall Street financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald has closed its first Bitcoin lending deal nearly a year after announcing its crypto lending services.

According to a May 27 Bloomberg report, Cantor provided Bitcoin-backed loans to FalconX and Maple Finance. FalconX, a digital asset broker, said it secured a facility worth over $100 million as part of a “broader credit framework,” while Maple Finance reportedly closed the first tranche of an agreement with Cantor.

The service allows companies holding Bitcoin to borrow funds and use the cryptocurrency as collateral, providing a way to unlock liquidity without selling their BTC holdings. Cantor announced its Bitcoin financing business with an initial capital of $2 billion in July 2024, targeting institutional investors seeking to leverage their Bitcoin. At the time, the company said Anchorage Digital and Copper would serve as custodians and collateral managers in the venture.

Credit markets are a fundamental part of the financial system, allowing capital to flow between borrowers and lenders and supporting economic activity across sectors. Their central role also means they can contribute to financial distress when risks are mismanaged. While mirroring some functions of traditional finance, crypto credit markets have been operating with less regulatory oversight.

Digital asset crisis of 2022

This dynamic was evident during the 2022 crisis in the digital asset sector. Celsius Network, once a leading crypto lending platform, collapsed after engaging in risky financial practices and facing allegations of fraud. Similarly, BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022 following significant exposure to the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.

According to a report from Galaxy, the total crypto lending market, including crypto-backed collateralized debt positions (CDPs) tied to stablecoins, stood at $36.5 billion in the last quarter of 2024, marking a 43% decline from its all-time high of $64.4 billion in 2021. Despite the broader contraction, onchain lending platforms have seen a dramatic rebound, with open borrowed positions surging to $19.1 billion by Q4 2024, a 959% increase over two years.

Crypto lending markets remain well below their Q1 2022 peak. Source: Galaxy

Cantor’s crypto arm

Cantor is one of the most traditional financial services companies in the United States. Founded in 1945, it offers a range of services for institutions, including investment banking, brokerage, equity and fixed-income sales and trading. The company claims to serve over 5,000 clients across 20 countries.

The company’s CEO, Howard Lutnick, has been an advocate for classifying Bitcoin as a commodity, akin to gold and oil, and has called for clearer regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies in the US. Lutnick was also appointed to co-lead US President Donald Trump’s transition team in 2024.

Cantor is also one of the managers of Tether’s US Treasury securities portfolio backing its stablecoin. In early 2024, the firm acquired a 5% stake in Tether.

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Selling Bitcoin is like “playing in a really bad house-rate casino,” according to Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream and one of Bitcoin’s earliest adopters. In a recent interview with Bitcoin financial services firm Unchained, Back said the odds are stacked against traders trying to time the market.

Back came to this conclusion in the early days of Bitcoin, he said, when the price “was going up basically exponentially but it [was] extremely volatile.”

“So […] if you see something that’s going up exponentially but with volatility, if you sell it to time the market a bit falling, the odds are against you,” Back said, adding:

“The trend line is up and to the right, exponential, and so there’s extremely bad trading odds attached to selling because you’re really hoping that it falls.”Adam Back during the interview. Source: Unchained

Bitcoin is known for its extreme volatility and heightened bull-bear market cycles. It has seen multiple corrections above 80%, which may test the stomach of many investors and believers. However, those who have remained steady through the ups and downs have been rewarded: In the last 10 years, BTC has had a total return of over 39,000%.

“I think anything that has a really rapid growth curve ends up with some pretty extreme volatility until it gets closer to full adoption,” Back said.

Average returns of the Bitcoin index. Source: Curvo

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Diminishing returns theory might not be in play this cycle

Back pointed to several factors that could support upward price momentum. He noted that companies like Strategy are not only acquiring Bitcoin directly but also offering indirect exposure through instruments such as convertible notes.

Another contributing factor is the growing institutional interest in Bitcoin, including investments by sovereign wealth funds. He cited Abu Dhabi’s $408.5 million stake in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF.

Finally, government entities are starting to venture into crypto. US President Donald Trump issued an executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, while the US state of New Hampshire’s governor recently signed such a reserve into law. Texas lawmakers recently passed a bill allowing the that state to create a state Bitcoin reserve.

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Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the company that owns US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform and is partially owned by the president, confirmed a $2.5 billion capital raise to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) after denying earlier reports of the deal.

According to a May 27 announcement from the company, the capital raise comprises a $1.5 billion stock sale and $1 billion in convertible senior secured bonds, with a 0% coupon. The sale is expected to close on May 29. TMTG CEO Devin Nunes said:

“We view Bitcoin as an apex instrument of financial freedom, and now Trump Media will hold cryptocurrency as a crucial part of our assets. This investment will help defend our Company against harassment and discrimination by financial institutions.”

TMTG spokespeople responded to the initial report from the Financial Times, published a day before the announcement, with derision.

“Apparently, the Financial Times has dumb writers listening to even dumber sources,” TMTG representatives told the FT.

Shares of TMTG sank following the $2.5 billion capital raise announcement. Source: TradingView

Shares of TMTG fell by over 12% following the announcement and were trading around $23.60 at the time of publication.

The funding deal comes as a growing number of corporations and countries adopt Bitcoin treasury strategies as the digital asset matures into a financial instrument of geopolitical importance.

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Bitcoin treasury companies keep stacking

Several Bitcoin treasury companies increased their holdings in May this year, including Michael Saylor’s Strategy. According to SaylorTracker, the company acquired an additional 4,020 BTC on May 26.

Technology company Semler Scientific purchased 455 BTC, valued at over $50 million, for its treasury, an acquisition the company disclosed in a May 23 filing.

Investment firm MetaPlanet, widely regarded by investors as Japan’s MicroStrategy, acquired an additional 1,004 BTC on May 19.

Market analyst Jesse Myers recently predicted that at the current rate of institutional accumulation, large entities will own 50% of the total Bitcoin supply by 2045.

Myers added that this growth in institutional adoption is driven by a flight to safety from traditional asset classes.

“Over the last two years, an exodus from fiat assets — bonds and money — has already begun. Hard money assets, BTC and gold, are where things are shifting,” the analyst wrote in a May 22 X post.

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