What is Celsius? Use Crypto to Earn Rewards and Borrow Cash

Cryptocurrency interest accounts are not a new concept. However, only a few players have risen to the top of this field. One of them is Celsius.

Celsius provides excellent interest rates on cryptocurrency deposits. You can also borrow in cryptocurrency or USD at low-interest rates. Furthermore, you can send cryptocurrency to someone using the Celsius app without incurring fees.

If you’re already involved in cryptocurrency borrowing/lending, you’ll probably like Celsius. This article will explain how this space works if you are unfamiliar with it.

Quick Summary

• Earn high reward rates on cryptocurrency deposits.
• Borrow money or coins with your cryptocurrency.
• Send and receive cryptocurrency without fees.

Who Is Celsius?

Celsius is a lending platform based on blockchain technology. It was founded in the summer of 2017 and released its first coin (CEL) in March of the following year. Celsius was founded by Alex Mashinsky, Nuke Goldstein, and S. Daniel Leon. Celsius is headquartered in London, England. The company has raised $93.8 million in five rounds of funding.

“We’re targeting what we take for granted in the United States, access to credit and interest income, and making it fungible across the planet so anybody can start a business. We take the American dream and make it available worldwide,” Mashinsky said in an interview with CoinCentral.

What Does Celsius Offer?

Celsius is a centralized lending platform based on blockchain technology. People can borrow from Celsius or deposit cryptocurrencies with the company to be lent out. In exchange, they will receive interest.

Borrowing

You have the option of borrowing in cash or CEL (the native token of Celsius). If you need money to spend, you should borrow it in cash. There are over 40 coins available for use as collateral. Furthermore, keep in mind that Celsius may lend your collateral to institutional investors.

There are no credit checks and loan approvals are instant. You will also not be charged any origination fees.

You can choose how much of your cryptocurrency to put up as collateral rather than putting up all of it. This is referred to as the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. Celsius provides three different LTV options: 25%, 33%, and 50%.

For California residents who choose a 25 percent LTV, interest rates are currently 0% APR. Rates for all other users typically begin at 1%. However, if you choose to receive your payment in CEL, you can get an even lower interest rate.

For those living outside of California, here are the interest rates as of October 2021:

Of course, CEL can fluctuate, and you should account for that. Check out the Celsius loan calculator to get the most recent rates and an idea of how much interest you might pay over the life of your loan.

Earnings/Rewards

By keeping your digital assets on deposit with Celsius, you can earn up to 17.49% APY. The platform currently pays interest on 25+ cryptocurrencies, 10+ stablecoins, and one Gold token (PAXG).

There are no minimum balance requirements or fees to earn on your cryptocurrency deposit. And payments are made on Mondays once a week.

Earnings are referred to as “rewards” in Celsius. The rewards vary depending on the type of cryptocurrency and whether you live in the United States or not. If you do not live in the United States, you may be eligible for one of Celsius’ loyalty tiers, which offer reward bonuses based on the percentage of your crypto portfolio that is in CEL tokens.

The following are the loyalty tiers:

Unfortunately, CEL rewards are not currently available to crypto holders in the United States. This means that residents of the United States will be unable to take advantage of Celsius’s best rates.

For example, the current “in-kind” rewards rate paid by Celsius for Synthetic Network Token (SNX) is 13.99 percent APY. However, if you were able to earn in CEL, and 25% or more of your Celsius portfolio consisted of CEL tokens, then your APY would increase to 17.49 percent. (13.99 * 0.25 = 3.4975, add the 3.4975% to the 13.99% to get 17.49% APY for the Synthetic Network Token (SNX))

It should be noted that CEL rates are highly volatile. In other words, the rate you see today might not be the same as the rate you see tomorrow.

Does Celsius Charge Any Fees?

There are no fees other than the interest paid on loans. This distinguishes Celsius from many of its competitors, who may charge withdrawal fees, termination fees, and other fees.

How Do I Open A Celsius Account?

To open an account, click here. Plus, if you open an account and deposit at least $400, you can get a $50 BTC bonus right now!

It’s worth noting that Celsius is heavily reliant on apps. They do have a web app, but you can only use it after passing the KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) verifications on their mobile app.

Is My Money Safe on Celsius?

Celsius deposits are not insured by the FDIC or the SIPC. Rather than the United States, the government of the United Kingdom regulates deposits. While Celsius claims to lend your cryptocurrency to institutional investors, there is no way to verify this. There is, without a doubt, a risk in depositing any cryptocurrency with Celsius.

We should also discuss crypto key security briefly. All funds deposited with Celsius are held by its custodian partner Fireblocks. Fireblocks also offers custody insurance in the event that your private keys are lost or stolen.

How Do I Contact Celsius?

There is no phone number prominently displayed on the Celsius contact page. Instead, you’ll be prompted to fill out a contact form. However, if you look closely in the website’s footer, you’ll find this number: (201) 824-2888.

Celsius Network has received over 1,500 Trustpilot reviews as of September 2021, with a respectable rating of 4.1/5. However, it is currently unrated and has no reviews with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Celsius Features