Earn Interest on Crypto with Celsius Network: A Review
I don’t know how I first found Celsius Network and their Medium page, but it was at the time when I was still unsure about buying Bitcoin. I was so unsure about crypto, but then I found Celsius Network, and I was amazed.
Like, crypto interest exists? The cryptocurrency space must be more advanced than I thought (spoiler: yes, it’s better than I thought), and finding Celsius actually got me interested enough to invest in crypto.
So how does Celsius Network work?
Celsius Network makes money through lending. They lend out to institutions, but they also allow their users to take a loan in USD or stablecoins. Their minimum is a $1000, and you would need at least $2000 in crypto as collateral. They use the returns to pay out weekly compounding interest.
That sounds like a regular bank, only with better interest. But what sets Celsius apart is they are committed to working in their users’ best interest. On their website, they say they’re paying 80% of revenue out to their users.
How would that commitment look like, though? After using them since February, I would say that you can see it in their changing rates. The Celsians website has a compilation of historical interest rates, and the rate changes over time because of the rise and fall in borrowing demand.
Recently, they even delisted ZCash and Bitcoin Gold because Celsius couldn’t lend them out. There was no demand for them, and I think that it’s a good thing they’re being delisted. Fluctuating interest rates are a transparent sign on what’s generating profit for Celsius and what’s not.
Other features
Another reason to love them: Celsius subsidizes the transaction fee. Those fees add up, especially if you only got small amounts like I do, so I appreciate that.
They also have this fantastic feature called Celpay, which allows you to send crypto with a simple link. You just click on the link, and it redirects you to the app, and then you get the amount in the Celpay. It’s stupidly simple to use, and I love it.
So how do you get started with Celsius?
Requirements: A valid ID for filling out a Know Your Customer form.
Investment: At least $1 of crypto
Risks: Not your keys, not your crypto, and attacks on Celsius or their custodians
Time needed: 12 hours or more, depending on profile verification speed
- Fill out the KYC, as Celsius’s focused on being compliant. If you have over $200 of crypto, you can get a free $20 of BTC after holding for 30 days — download and use the referral code 12469514c2
- Once you’re verified, make a deposit! You can start earning interest on as little as a cent, but do note that withdrawal minimum is at $1.
- The interest-generating period is from Friday to Friday. Just sit back, and wait for your interest to appear sometime on Monday! I’ve gotten it either on Monday night or early Tuesday morning
Like, yes, it’s that simple. Just deposit some crypto and get that interest on Monday! And honestly, their interest emails is the best part of my Monday.
Loans and CEL
Celsius Network also allows you to take a loan against their collateral, which is a non-taxable event, unlike selling your crypto. You can borrow at least $1000 in USD or stablecoins (crypto pegged 1:1 to USD) as long as you have at least $2000 worth of crypto to lock up as collateral. You can read more about loans here.
They also have their native CEL token, which allows you to up to 35% more interest if you choose to earn in CEL. Read more about CEL here.
Lastly, here is the link to their whitepaper.
Why I’m sticking with Celsius
I love how Celsius is beginner-friendly. I literally put 0.002 Litecoin in Celsius and they paid me interest on it. They paid me interest on $0.01 worth of crypto, which is so good!
And Celsius offers competitive rates with no lockup. Its competitors’ lockup minimums can be inaccessible for beginners or for those from a third-world country, like me. And we’re in a worldwide pandemic; I want access to my crypto just in case things go wrong!
And they have lots of wonderfully friendly features, like Celpay and their free withdrawals. But I was really sold on Celsius after seeing them respond to Black Thursday. Crypto prices sharply dropped, and people were hurrying to move their assets.
This meant that the networks were clogged full of transactions. A lot of people couldn’t add more collateral to their loans that were suddenly in danger of being liquidated. Maker’s protocols alone liquidated $8.2 million worth of crypto.
But Celsius worked to not liquidate their users, unlike their competitors. I personally haven’t taken a loan, so it was a surprise to know that their staff actually reached out to people for liquidation issues. I was in their Telegram group seeing people panic, only to be relieved in the end when they realized when they weren’t in danger of liquidation.
I think it’s easy to say that you intend to work in your users’ best interest, but to actually do it is a different matter. So, kudos to Celsius. It’s probably gonna be a while before I can take a loan, but they are my first choice.
Final thoughts
Look, I might have a few complaints (their security measures can be a little annoying), but I’m happy to have found Celsius first before I started in crypto. I love how they don’t just mean well, they actually do well, and earning interest is as simple as just depositing in a wallet!
And if you’d like to support and my writing and get some easy $20 of BTC along the way, you can use my referral code 12469514c2! All you gotta do is deposit $200 and hold for 30 days.
