Celsius Network claims to be the modern way to manage your assets.
In this review, I will share with you everything you need to know about this fast-growing crypto lending and asset management platform.
So that you can independently and confidently decide whether to invest with them or look elsewhere.
Summary of Celsius Network Review
Celsius Network is one of the fastest-growing crypto lending platforms.
The platform enables anyone to earn passive crypto income by lending their crypto assets for regular interests.
Thus effectively eliminating the need for you to become a crypto trader before you can increase your crypto wealth.
You enjoy nearly zero risks, consistent passive income, all at no extra effort except just deposit your money and watch it grow.
Below is a quick overview of the pros and cons of Celsius Network.
Celsius Network Review: What you may like about Celsius Network
- Easy account setup.
- Rewards new members.
- No deposit limits.
- Weekly interest payout.
- Zero fees on all transactions.
- Supports a large variety of cryptocurrencies.
- Supports compounding interest.
- Interest rates are relatively high.
- Supports inter-account transfer.
- No lockup period. You can withdraw your crypto from the platform anytime.
- You get a $20 welcome bonus (subject to T&C)
Celsius Network Review: What you may NOT like about Celsius Network
- Available only on Mobile App.
- Not accessible in all countries.
- Variable —unstable— interest rates.
- The best rates are available only to lenders who opt to earn their interests in CEL tokens.
- It is a centralized platform.
- Withdrawals above $50,000 require identity confirmation
What is Celsius Network
Celsius Network is a mobile-based, crypto lending, staking, and assets management platform.
The platform aims to contribute to building a new economy where everyone has the opportunity to be financially successful.
It plans to do this by providing a platform of curated financial services backed by fair interest rates, zero fees, and super-fast transaction processing.
Celsius was conceptualized and co-founded by Alex Mashinsky (CEO) and Daniel Leon (COO) in the summer of 2017.
But it wasn’t until March 2018 that the CEL token —the native cryptocurrency of the platform— was launched via an ICO which raised $50 million for the project.
And the first version of the Celsius App was released shortly afterward in June of the same year.
The Celsius Network Team: Who are those behind Celsius?
One of the most important factors to look at when evaluating the potential of any company or project is the team.
According to the CEO, Alex, the Celsius team is over 100-man strong if you include the leadership team, core team, tech team, and contractors.
This is in addition to a 5-man advisory board which includes a founding father of blockchain —Dr. W. Scott Stornetta.
Alex (CEO) is a renowned entrepreneur who has founded several notable technology companies in the United States.
He has over 35 patents to his name relating to exchanges, VOIP protocols, messaging, and communication.
His co-founder, Daniel (COO) is a social entrepreneur with a proven track record of helping startups to grow and scale.
Prior to joining forces with Alex, Daniel was the CEO of Atlis Labs, Beyon3D, Chairman of HereO, General Manager at GroundLink, and Vice President at Gallup Organization.
Also, a co-founder and CTO (chief technology officer), is Nuke Goldstein.
Nuke (CTO) is described as a seasoned software developer, architect, innovator, and entrepreneur who specializes in Image processing, AI, IoT, and blockchain.
Prior to joining Celsius, Nuke worked on P2P credit protocols using distributed storage and smart contracts and was the founder and CEO of Sevenpop.
Their pictures and that of the dozens of other members of the team are prominently displayed on their website with links to their respective LinkedIn profiles if you want to check their full background.
Celsius Network Partnerships
You can easily determine the strength of a project by the quality of its partnerships.
Celsius Network partners with some of the most innovative, transparent, and honest companies in the digital asset industry.
Among which are:
- Bitfinex
- Line
- Paxful
- Bitwala
- Korbit
- Coinlend
- Monarch
- Voyager
- Amon
- Infinito
- Outlet
- Bitfront
- Mode
You can click on the name of each of the companies above to read details of their partnership.
Also, you should check out the partnership page on the Celsius Network website for the latest and up-to-date list.
I have personally made effort to verify all the partnership claims by following links to the partnership announcements both through their website and via Google.
The only partnership I couldn’t verify is that with Paxful.
Whenever I do, I will include the link to the partnership announcement.
Celsius Network Review: How Does Celsius Network Work?
Celsius Network and all other crypto lending platforms works similar to a traditional bank:
- You deposit your money into the bank.
- The banks lend out your money to borrowers and also to funds their investment projects.
- You get a portion of the bank’s profit or interest collected.
- You keep earning the interest for as long as your money remains in the bank custody.
Just like a bank, Celsius Network collects money —mostly crypto— from one set of clients (lenders) and gives that money as a loan to other customers (borrowers).
To ensure loans are always repaid and that lenders are protected from possible losses when borrowers default, Celsius Network requires all loans are backed by a minimum of 150% collateral.
This removes the need for any third-party insurance Celsius already holds more of the borrowers’ assets than the loan is worth.
That means that if you’re taking out a loan of $1000, you will be required to deposit as collateral at least $1,500 worth of cryptocurrencies.
So that, should the borrower defaults on repaying the loan or the accruing interest, the platform can make the lender whole using the deposited collateral.
Another thing to take note of is that the rates Celsius Network pay vary with the changing market conditions.
So that if demand for a particular cryptocurrency spikes your earnings might increase.
And should the business be slow for them with a particular cryptocurrency, the interest you can earn on them reduces accordingly.
How Do I Make (more) Money on Celsius Network?
There are basically 3 ways to make money on Celsius Network and 2 ways to boost your earning potentials.
- Deposit your crypto to your Celsius Wallet and lend it to receive weekly interest payouts.
- Stake supported cryptocurrencies such as DASH for instance to earn weekly staking rewards.
- Promote the platform and use your referral code to onboard new members to earn referral commissions.
- Keep your earnings in the wallet to earn compounding interest.
- Opt to receive your rewards in CEL tokens to earn even higher interest rates —up to 30% and even more depending on whatever the base is.
Your rewards are paid directly into your Celsius wallet every Monday at no specific time. It could drop in the morning, noon, or midnight.
The Celsius Token (CEL)
CEL is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 native cryptocurrency and utility token of the Celsius platform.
Holding this token entitles you to certain special benefits on the platform such as :
- Reduced loan interest rates
- Higher earned rewards
- Premium support
- Priority in line for loans
- Better dollar loan rates
CEL Tokenomics
The CEL token has a total supply of 695, 658, 161.
24% of this supply —167, 000, 000 CEL— is locked up.
The remaining 74% —525, 658, 161— is currently in circulation which comprises:
- Tokens in the Celsius treasury = 21.4904%
- Team tokens = 0.3754%
- Partners token = 2.2568%
- Tokens deposited by users in Celsius wallet = 38.7888%
- Tokens on exchanges = 1.2487%
- Tokens held in cold storage by users = 11.8334
The platform has an impressively transparent tokenomics which can be easily found on their token information page.
The Celsius (CEL) Loyalty Rewards Program
Remember we stated earlier that if you choose to receive your interests or pay back your loans in CEL tokens you will enjoy higher rates (bonus rewards) or discounts accordingly.
The amount of discount you receive depends on which membership loyalty level or tier you belong to based on the amount of CEL tokens that you hold.
Below is a break down of the Celsius membership categories with their requirements and applicable bonuses.
Interpretation:
- If the amount of CEL tokens you hold is 5%-10% of your total portfolio, your loyalty tier is Bronze. And you will enjoy 5% higher interest rates or discounts on loan repayments.
- If the amount of CEL tokens you hold is 10%-15% of your total portfolio, your loyalty tier is Silver. And you will enjoy 10% higher interest rates or discounts on loan repayments.
- If the amount of CEL tokens you hold is 15%-20% of your total portfolio, your loyalty tier is Gold. And you will enjoy 20% higher interest rates or discounts on loan repayments.
- If the amount of CEL tokens you hold is greater than 20% of your total portfolio, your loyalty tier is Platinum. And you will enjoy 30% higher interest rates or discounts on loan repayments.
This tokenomics obviously works to encourage demand for the CEL token which supports the increasing token price.
At the current price of $2 (November 13, 2020, 11:50 pm UTC) the CEL token is up by more than 7500% since 2018 that it was launched.
Making it one of the highest performing cryptocurrencies in the past 2 years.
How to Create a Celsius Network Account
To create a free Celsius Network account all you have to do is download the App from either Google PlayStore or Apple App Store depending on your device.
Follow the onscreen process of setting up your wallet and complete the 5 minute KYC verification requirement.
Follow the video tutorial above for a visual guide or click here to read the updated step-by-step guide.
Use this referral code: Awokj660b to enjoy a $20 welcome bonus.
How Does Celsius Network Make Money?
Celsius Network pays crypto lenders a little less interest than what it receives as interest from its borrowers.
The difference between what the borrowers pay as interest for taking out loans and what the lenders receive is the profit for the platform.
For example, the platform earn profits by lending your coins to hedge funds, exchanges, and institutional traders, and by issuing asset-backed loans to users at an average of 9% interest.
It then turns to share at least 80% of its profits with lenders on the Celsius Network and uses the remaining 20% of its profit to grow the platform and pay salaries.
In some cases, according to a reliable source, whenever possible the platform shares even more than the regular 80% of its profit with the members.
The CEO, Alex Mashinsky, puts it more succinctly.
“We pay 7% to 10% interest. You can take your dollars or euros, you convert them into stablecoins like Paxos or USDC, deposit the coins in the Celsius app, I lend them out. I make 9% to 12%, I give you 80% of what I make back,”
Is Celsius Network Secure?
The Celsius App is very similar to your traditional bank app.
It’s just an interface for managing your money and does not necessarily hold the actual coins.
Therefore, as long as you keep your personal login details safe and free from third-arty access you’re relatively safe.
However, the platform’s wallet could be hacked, resulting in the loss of funds. This is a possibility you should be aware of.
Though the company has stated that should such losses occur it will cover it from its balance but take that as a non-enforceable promise.
If it ever gets hacked beyond what it can possibly cover with its balance or the “eligible digital assets” it holds, your money is gone for good.
Their terms and conditions do not guarantee you will be fully reimbursed.
To feel safer, enable all the security features on your App.
Such as using a strong password, 2FA, Whitelisted addresses, Biometric security, HODL Mode to temporarily disable outgoing transactions, etc.
And then pray the internal wallet of the platform doesn’t get hacked.
Final Thought on Celsius Network Review
Recently the platform suffered a 24-hour outage that made it impossible for users to access their wallet or make any transactions. Creating a scare among the community members.
According to their official statement, the situation was a result of a DNS and other emergency network security updates.
That is the problem with all centralized platforms. Anything can happen and you lose access to your money.
If you cannot stomach such possibilities, then you may have to consider using only decentralized lending and borrowing platforms such as Compound, Aave, etc.
More so, the very high interests are based on your exposure to their native (CEL) token.
If you don’t want to be exposed to their native token, then you will not enjoy the higher rates and discounts that were advertised.
Though they have generally competitive rates that fall between 3% on the lowest ends and to 13% on the high side even without exposure to the CEL tokens.
Though the CEL token has performed exceptionally well so far, it’s riskier than holding Bitcoin, Ethereum, or the other more established cryptocurrencies. This is why many risk-averse investors may not buy the idea of having to keep much of their portfolio in CEL.
So if you decide to hold the CEL token in order to enjoy the higher rates and discounts when you borrow, be sure you understand the risks involved.
Overall, Celsius is a great company with a solid team, innovative product offering, a customer-centric business model, and a super active community.
What’s more, they will reward you with a $20 welcome bonus when you complete your KYC verification and deposit at least $200 in your Celsius Wallet.
But you need to use a valid referral code to enjoy this welcome bonus.
To get the $20 welcome bonus use this referral code: 1491601548
Ok! That’s just about it.
Over to you.
What do you think about Celsius Network? Please share your opinion and experiences using the platform with us in the comments section below.