Crypto lender Celsius sees massive growth in Bitcoin deposits

Business is booming for crypto lending service Celsius Network.

According to an announcement yesterday, Celsius has seen more than 50,000 Bitcoin deposited through their app since launching in 2018, with 2020 on pace to outperform 2019 by more than 60%. It’s a sign that market uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t stopped new users from joining the platform, further growing the crypto financial system.

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Celsius said in release that its growth is the result of all-time high app downloads and unique depositors over the last several months. The release also highlighted other growth statistics, such as more than 90,000 active users and nearly $11 million in interest payments distributed to crypto loan issuers since inception.

The network was founded in 2018 and uses a centralized platform to buy and loan cryptocurrencies, as opposed to decentralized platforms like Balancer or Uniswap. Celsius Network has no fees for any transactions with the goal of making these types of financial services freely available to people around the world. Celsius Network claims to return up to 80% of its revenues to depositors.

The platform’s users can now buy more than 25 cryptocurrencies using the Celsius Network app and can receive loans using seven different cryptocurrencies as collateral. Users can receive loans in USD or dollar-pegged stablecoins at rates as low as 3.47% APR. 

Celsius Network users can also loan their cryptocurrency at rates of up to 10% APY. Celsius has originated more than $6.2 billion in loans since 2018, up more than 45% compared to the $4.25 billion the company reported in November 2019.

The dollar denominated value of Bitcoin deposited in the Celsius app is over $380 million, and Celsius reported more than $794 million assets under management in their Friday release. Prior, Celsius added credit card purchases for Bitcoin on its mobile app with fees significantly lower than the competition, which may have contributed to the platform’s growth.

In the release, Celsius Network CEO Alex Masinsky commented that the coronavirus pandemic and accompanying economic uncertainty had not slowed growth of the platform. “During these times of instability and uncertainty, the use case for Celsius has never been stronger,” he said. “Celsius has experienced tremendous growth, accelerating in March and April despite COVID-19.”