Celsius Network is a popular cryptocurrency lending platform founded in 2017.
Celsius recently raised another $400M in venture funding in October 2021 and has processed over $8.20B in loans.It has innovative options for:
1. Earning Interest On Crypto / Stablecoins
2. Borrowing money
As Canadians we can use Celsius just like our US counterparts!
Table of Contents
Earning Interest On Stablecoins
You can earn interest on Crypto that you keep in Celsius Network.
The highest interest rate of 17% APY is for holding Synthetix SNX and also receiving your earnings in the Celsius token (CEL).
If you are less risk averse or just want something you know is reliable you can hold stablecoins which are tied to the United States Dollar and still earn a whopping 8.88%! Given that savings accounts in Canada earn between .05% and .1% in 2021 8.88% is phenomenal.
Earnings from the interest on your stablecoins are paid out weekly!
Some of the stablecoins that earn 8.88% APY are:
TUSD – True USD
US dollar stablecoin 1:1 launched in 2018 administered by TrustToken.
GUSD – Gemini Dollar
Gemini dollars are eligible for FDIC insurance up to $250K USD per user and Gemini is regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services. Their USD reserves are also audited each month by an external accounting firm.
USDC – USD Coin
USDC was founded by the company Circle and is managed by a group called Centre.
USDT – Tether
BUSD – Binance USD
This is another 1:1 USD backed stablecoin and was created by the company Binance. BUSD is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
Borrowing Money Against Crypto Assets
You can borrow stable coins or USD at phenomenally low rates – as low as 1% interest. For such a low interest rate you can only borrow 25% of the total amount of the collateral backing the loan (i.e. your own stablecoins). For example, to borrow $2,500 of USDC you’d need to back it with $10,000 USDC. Still 1%, is an amazing interest rate on a loan and you can extend the term up to 3 years with the same loan terms.
If you want to borrow more than 25% of the value of the collateral you provide, you can get loans from Celsius at 6.95% or 8.95% but this is far less appealing than the 1% interest rate loan option.
The stablecoins you use as collateral are essentially frozen until you’ve paid back the loan.
Celsius advertises the value of one of their loans is that is allows you to continue holding onto crypto. If you’re strapped for cash and you want to keep holding crypto but you have living expenses, they explain that one of their loans will allow you to have cash on hand in fiat (USD, CAD) but not sell your crypto! While this is one potential reason to get a loan from Celsius, 1% is also just such a low rate that if you could make use of the money elsewhere it makes sense to utilize.
To request a loan you have to use the Celsius mobile app, rather than the desktop / in browser app.
Withdrawing Money From Celsius
When you change or add a whitelisted address to send your crypto to you have to confirm via email as well as wait for 24 hours before you can send to that withdrawal address.