Consolidated Balance Sheets - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Dec. 31, 2025	Dec. 31, 2024
Assets
Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents		$ 621,093	$ 375,416
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		146,314	124,220
Loans, interest and fees receivable, at fair value		6,647,882	2,630,274
Loans at amortized cost, net (including $4.1 million and $4.9 million of allowance for credit losses at December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively; and $20.1 million and $19.8 million of deferred revenue at December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively)		82,884	84,332
Property at cost, net of depreciation		12,589	10,519
Intangible assets, net (Note 3)		30,268	0
Operating lease right-of-use assets		15,104	13,878
Prepaid expenses and other assets		66,954	32,068
Total assets		7,623,088	3,270,707
Liabilities [Abstract]
Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities		284,514	72,088
Operating lease liabilities		25,283	24,188
Notes Payable, net held by VIEs		5,818,761	2,199,448
Senior notes, net		698,562	281,552
Income tax liability		152,138	114,068
Total liabilities		6,979,258	2,691,344
Commitments and contingencies (Note 12)
Shareholders' Equity
Common stock, no par value, 150,000,000 shares authorized: 14,922,462 and 14,904,192 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively		0	0
Paid-in capital		102,276	98,278
Retained earnings		506,424	394,628
Total shareholders’ equity attributable to Atlanticus Holdings Corporation		608,700	492,906
Noncontrolling interests		(4,870)	(3,543)
Total equity		603,830	489,363
Total liabilities, shareholders' equity and temporary equity		7,623,088	3,270,707
Series A Preferred Stock [Member]
Liabilities [Abstract]
Series A preferred stock, 400,000 shares issued and outstanding (liquidation preference - $40.0 million) at December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024 (Note 6) (1)	[1]	40,000	40,000
Class B preferred units issued to noncontrolling interests (Note 6)	[1]	40,000	40,000
Series B Preferred Stock [Member]
Liabilities [Abstract]
Series A preferred stock, 400,000 shares issued and outstanding (liquidation preference - $40.0 million) at December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024 (Note 6) (1)		0	50,000
Class B preferred units issued to noncontrolling interests (Note 6)		0	50,000
Shareholders' Equity
Series B preferred stock, no par value, 3,584,131 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2025 (liquidation preference - $89.6 million); 3,301,179 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2024 (liquidation preference - $82.5 million) (1)	[1]	$ 0	$ 0

[1] Both the Series A preferred stock and the Series B preferred stock have no par value and are part of the same aggregate 10,000,000 shares authorized.