NFT holders are using their digital art as collateral to borrow record amounts of cryptocurrency

• DeFi protocol NFTfi reported a record amount of borrowing using NFTs as collateral in January. 
• NFTs boomed in popularity in 2021 and early 2022 but have since seen trading volumes crash. 
• Crypto markets are still recovering from a year-long bear market, though token prices are on the rise again. 

Non-fungible token holders are borrowing against their NFT collections at the highest rate ever.

Data from NFTfi, a DeFi protocol that lets NFT holders list their items as collateral for crypto loans, counted a record 4,399 loans, totaling 18,000 ether tokens, disbursed in January. That's almost double the previous high of 2,481 loans made in March 2022, per a report from The Defiant.