Celsius Network hits over $4bn in crypto loans, sets new record

Crypto lending company Celsius Network has set a new record by handing out more than $4.25bn in crypto loans already this year.

Celsius Network was founded by VoIP inventor Alex Mashinsky in 2017. Since then, it has already amassed some 50,000 members from both the retail and institutional sectors.

As pointed out by the CoinShares Crypto Trends 2019 report this week, crypto lending is becoming a fast-growing segment in the cryptocurrency space. As the industry matures, there are now more opportunities for cryptocurrency users than to just buy and HODL.

Crypto owners can now earn a passive income and make their cryptocurrency work for them by using a high-interest paying account or lending out their crypto through a platform like Celsius.

Celsius Network hits a new all-time high

Cryptocurrency holders who are willing to part with their private keys can at least be comforted by the fact that Celsius Network’s custodian is BitGo, now responsible for some 20% of all Bitcoin transactions.

According to a press release in PR Newswire this week, the crypto interest and lending platform has now surpassed $4.25 billion in loan origination in the crypto industry. On top of that, the network has also paid out more than $5 million in interest income and received over $450 million in deposits.

This highlights a burgeoning market for traditional financial tools and services in the crypto space and marks explosive growth for the company which only hit $2.2 billion in August – an almost 50% increase in just a few months.

Alex Mashinksy, CEO of Celsius Network, stated: “Celsius Network’s industry-leading deposit rates are attracting a wide variety of customers, from ordinary consumers who are sick and tired of low-savings bank accounts to sophisticated institutions that want to profitably deploy their crypto holdings.

“Celsius gives back 80% of loan interest to our depositors with no minimums, caps, fees, or penalties – our incredible growth shows there is high demand for lending platforms that put the needs of depositors first.”

Crypto lending to the moon?

This year, crypto lending platforms have witnessed incredible growth as more and more individuals begin to use their crypto stashes as collateral to secure fiat loans.

The CoinShares report cited that crypto lending had continued to experience high double-digit QoQ growth in 2019, with Genesis Capital reporting an average of more than 80% origination growth since launch.

For its part, Celsius Network now has members from more than 50 countries, with over 150 institutions among its client list – including some of the largest trading firms in the US.

The company also claims to be the “only fully transparent organisation with data about membership, deposits, and loans available in real time in the app to all users to the health of the Celsius community”.