Top Things You Should Know About Celsius (CEL)

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29 Mar 2024

Hey guys, I’m back with another comprehensive Q&A piece, this time for the cryptocurrency lending/borrowing platform – Celsius (CEL).
Celsius is yet another Ethereum DeFi platform that allows users to earn interest on cryptocurrency loans, secure cash loans on their cryptocurrency, and pay and transfer cryptocurrency with negligible fees.
According to Celsius, the network has thus far processed $8.2 billion in cryptocurrency loans and has more than 192K active users.
Now, before we dive in, the following piece is similar to my latest articles on Serum (SRM), Kleros (PNK), and Fantom (FTM), so if you haven’t already seen those, be sure to check them out as well.
Hope you enjoy!
The list of Q&A is kind of long so first comes the list of questions that I have prepared the answers to:

What is Celsius Network?
Who and When Created Celsius Network?
What is the Purpose of the $CEL Token?
How is $CEL Token Distributed?
How Does the Crypto Loan With Celsius Work?
How Can You Earn Crypto With Celsius Network?
Where to Store $CEL Token?
Where you Buy & Sell $CEL

1. What is Celsius Network?

Celsius website homepage

Celcius Network is a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform of curated bank-like services that allow you to secure cash loans, send crypto to friends, and build wealth on deposited crypto assets.
In other words, Celsius Network provides cryptocurrency users with a modern way to manage their digital assets and it aims to disrupt the financial industry with things like fair interest, zero fees, and lightning-quick transactions.
A slogan used by Celsius Network is:

“You don’t need to be a bank to make bank”

The above statement is referring to Celsius’ value proposition of allowing users to earn a substantial passive income on their crypto holdings, particularly in comparison to traditional fiat-based savings accounts.
Celsius Network enables anyone to take control of their finances and start earning passive income on their idle crypto assets, as well as giving them access to other decentralized financial services.
The Celsius Network and all of its offerings are available on the Celsius Network app for both Android and iOS devices.

Celsius Network Features

Earn Rewards
Earn up to 22.40% annually for simply storing your cryptocurrency on Celsius. Celsius provides an easy way to build wealth, allowing users to earn interest on their idle crypto assets.
Borrow Cash
Take out cash loans using your crypto. Interest rates start at just 1% APR. With Celsius cash loans, you never have to give up on your crypto investment. You can maintain market exposure with your crypto position and get a cash loan at the same time.
Pay & Transfer
Send crypto instantly and fee free to friends with CelPay. You can send payments to friends with the Celsius Network app via secure link or text, and without fees.
Transparent
Celsius is a fully transparent company that publishes its revenue and data in real-time. Celsius shares at least 80% of its revenue with its users so you can earn up to 22.40% APY, distributed weekly.

2. Who and When Created Celsius Network?

Celsius Network founders, Alex Mashinsky and S.Daniel Leon

Celsius Network was first conceptualized in 2017 when its founders, Alex Mashinsky and S.Daniel Leon drew up a plan for Celsius on a coffee shop napkin.
However, it wasn’t until March 2018, that Celsius completed its successful ICO, raising roughly $50 million making its CEL token worldwide. Shortly after that in June 2018, version 1 of the Celsius App launched, and as the project stands today it has more than 192K active users.
Celsius founder, Chairman, and CEO Alex Mashinsky is a successful technology entrepreneur who has founded several notable technology firms including Arbinet in, VoceSmart, GroundLink, Governing Dynamis, and Transit Wireless.
Additionally, Mashinsky also served as CEO of Novatel prior to founding Celsius and maintains his position as a Managing Partner there while serving Celsius Network full-time as its CEO and founder.
Celsius Network’s other founder, S.Daniel Leon serves as the project’s President and COO. Prior to founding Celsius, Leon has co-founded and led multiple companies and not-for-profit organizations including Atlas Labs, ZeyFo, ekkoTV Inc, and more.
Additionally, Leon served as the CEO at Beyon3D, was the General Manager at GroundLink, and served multiple other positions as the Vice President or General Manager.
All in all, Celsius Network was founded and is led by highly experienced individuals.

3. What is the Purpose of the $CEL Token?

Celsius (CEL) token logo

Celsius $CEL is the native cryptocurrency utility token of the Celsius Network with real rewards. $CEL tokens provide users of Celsius with access to higher rates on earnings and lower rates on loans.
It is meant to be the preferred cryptocurrency utilized in Celsius as it offers far greater benefits and rewards than if you were to use ETH or any other cryptocurrency.

$CEL Token Benefits

Earn Higher Rewards
People who support CEL by choosing to HODL and earn their weekly interest rewards in CEL tokens receive up to 30% more rewards on all deposits of non-CEL coins.
Lower Interest Rate on Loans
People who pay interest on their loans with CEL tokens will receive up to a 30% discount on all of their interest payments.
Lower Interest Rates for Institutions
Institutions that borrow digital assets benefit from paying their interest with CEL and receive up to a 30% discount on their interest payments.

Celsius Rewards Program - Loyalty Tiers

Celsius employs a lucrative loyalty program for users that accumulate and HODL $CEL tokens and it’s based on your ratio, not your amount – so anyone can access meaningful rewards.
Celsius Loyalty Tiers

Bronze: 5% - 10% CEL holdings receive 5% Bonus rewards and 5% Loan interest discount
Silver: 10% - 15% CEL holdings receive 10% Bonus rewards and 10% Loan interest discount
Gold: 15% - 20% CEL holdings receive 20% Bonus rewards and 20% Loan interest discount
Platinum: 20% - 100% CEL holdings receive 30% Bonus rewards and 30% Loan interest discount

4. How is $CEL Token Distributed?

Celsius shares up to 80% of their revenue with the Celsius community in the form of weekly rewards payments, up to 10% for everyone. These reward payments are distributed to Celsius users from the CEL Treasury with 21.5% (149,500,000 CEL tokens) readily available for distribution to Celsius users.
All Celsius (CEL) tokens have been minted at the genesis of the Network with a total token supply of 695,658,161 CEL. Out of this supply, 76% (528,658,161 CEL) is in circulation, and 24% (167,000,000 CEL) is locked in the Celsius treasury.
Taking into account, the number of CEL tokens held in Celsius treasuries and tokens held by the Celsius team and partners, roughly 50% of the total $CEL token supply is under Celsius Management.
That said, there are plenty of CEL tokens to be distributed as rewards to Celsius Network users for quite some time.

5. How Does the Crypto Loan With Celsius Work?

(Source)

Applying for a crypto loan with Celsius is easy and fast. You can apply in minutes with zero paperwork, no credit check, no origination fee, and Celsius’ automated process makes it very fast.
Here’s how it works:

Download the Celsius Network app for Apple or Android and create an account.
Tap on the Celsius logo at the bottom right corner of the screen and then tap on the borrow option.
Tap on the “Apply for a loan” button and then tap on the “Borrow Dollars” or “Borrow Stablecoins” button. (For this tutorial, we’re borrowing dollars)
Enter in the loan amount you will be paid out and tap on the "Choose collateral" button.
Choose a coin to use as collateral (Celsius supports 25+ coins to choose from).
If you have enough collateral, you can tap on the desired interest rate for your loan. The more collateral you have the better interest rates you will be able to get for a loan.
Choose the term of your loan (choose between 6 and 36 months), then tap on the "Bank account" button.
Enter your bank details (ie. Bank Location, Bank name, Bank City, Bank Street and Number, Bank Zip, Account Number, Bank Identifier Code, Account Type). Check that everything is correct and tap the “Continue” button.
You will now see all of your loan details for your review. Once reviewed, check the box saying you have read all the terms and conditions.
Finally, tap on the “Request Loan” button and enter in your 2FA or PIN for verification.

That’s it. If you follow these steps, you'll successfully apply for a loan on Celsius.

Celsius Loan Benefits

Get Cash Without Giving Up on Your Investments
Selling your cryptocurrency means that you will miss out on the benefit of its potential growth. That’s why Celsius enables you to get cash loans while keeping your crypto as collateral.
Defer Your Income or Capital Gains Tax
When you sell your crypto for cash you get taxed. If you borrow cash using your crypto as collateral on Celsius, you gain access to cash without paying tax. Talk to your tax advisor about some of the potential benefits of accessing cash without cashing out.
Low Interest Rates
Interest rates start from as low as 1% APR when choosing to pay with CEL tokens.
Flexible loan-to-value Options
Fine-tune your LTV in order to keep your interest rate low and minimize the required collateral.
Flexible Loan Terms
Choose the term that suits you best, and extend or terminate your loan at any time with no fees and no penalties. Loans terms can be anywhere between 6 and 36 months.
Borrow Against 25+ Coins
Celsius users have more options to secure a loan with a wide range of 25+ coins to use as collateral.
Fast & Easy
Apply for crypto or cash loans in just minutes using the Celsius app. There’s zero paperwork, no credit check, no origination fee, and Celsius’ automated process makes it very fast.

6. How Can You Earn Crypto With Celsius Network?

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Celsius users can earn up to 22.40% annually by simply transferring and holding their crypto on the Celsius Network app.

Earning with Celsius Benefits

No staking or locking up tokens required - Celsius users have 24/7 access to all of their funds.
No minimum balance required - everyone is equal, whether you have 5 coins or 5 million.
No fees or penalties - you will never be charged fees or penalties for not having enough money deposited on the Celsius app.
Earn more with CEL tokens - If you’re holding BTC, you can earn BTC. But if you choose to earn in CEL tokens, you can earn even more.

As soon as you've made a deposit on Celsius you will start accumulating interest that gets paid out every week on Monday. Also, If you hold CEL tokens in addition to other tokens you will receive bonus rewards based on your loyalty level.

$CEL Token Loyalty Levels

Bronze: 5% - 10% CEL holdings receive 5% Bonus rewards
Silver: 10% - 15% CEL holdings receive 10% Bonus rewards
Gold: 15% - 20% CEL holdings receive 20% Bonus rewards
Platinum: 20% - 100% CEL holdings receive 30% Bonus rewards

7. Where to Store $CEL Token?

Celsius Network App

Celsius (CEL) is an ERC-20 token residing on top of the public Ethereum blockchain. That said, you can store CEL in any ERC-20 token supported wallet.
However, the best wallet for storing CEL is the official Celsius Network Crypto Wallet App. In this wallet, users can start earning interest on their crypto, apply for cash loans against their crypto, and more easily send crypto to their friends with CelPay.

Popular Celsius (CEL) Wallets:

Trust Wallet (mobile)
Argent (mobile)
Coinbase Wallet (mobile)
Ledger Nano S (hardware)
Metamask (web)

In addition to the above-listed wallets, Celsius (CEL) can be stored on a wide variety of other reputable wallets supporting ERC-20 tokens.

8. Where you Buy & Sell $CEL

Celsius (CEL) can be bought and sold on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis but the most popular way to buy, sell, or trade CEL is through centralized or decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges.
You can buy CEL with cryptocurrency or fiat currency at the following top exchanges. In most cases, you will be able to buy CEL with BTC, ETH, or stablecoins.

Uniswap - WETH, USDC
Liquid - BTC, USDT,
1inch Exchange - ETH
BitMart - ETH
Bilaxy - ETH

In addition to the exchanges listed above, Celsius (CEL) is also traded on a wide variety of other exchanges and platforms that enable people to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies.
Hope you enjoyed that read, Let me know if I have missed something in the comments.
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