Celsius Review: How is this Beneficial for Canadian Crypto Investors?

On July 13th 2022, Celsius Network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Previously, they have suspended withdrawals, transfers and swaps due to a lack of liquidity. Do not consider Celsius Network as a tool for your crypto assets. The review below is outdated and we decided to keep it for educational purposes.

Celsius is a cryptocurrency lending and borrowing platform that allows you to deposit your crypto to earn interest. We wanted to see if Celsius is beneficial for Canadians, so here is our Celsius review.

Celsius Summary 

Celsius is a centralized borrowing and lending platform with more than 1.5 million global users and $18 billion in assets. With Celsius, you can deposit your crypto and earn upto 17% APY paid weekly. You can also borrow crypto at 1% APR after depositing collateral. Celsius encourages holding crypto long-term while giving you interest on your holdings. 

Celsius Features

Celsius offers its global users the opportunity to borrow or lend their crypto. If you have crypto that you plan to hold for the long term, you could earn interest on it if you deposit it to the Celsius platform. Depending on the crypto you deposit, the interest rate varies. For example, you could earn 6% APY if you deposit bitcoin or 8.5% if you deposit USDC. 

Celsius claims that you can earn up to 17% APY, but that is only available for people receiving rewards in the Celsius token (CEL) for depositing Synthetix (SNX). 

Users can also take out a loan. First, you must deposit collateral in Bitcoin, Ethereum, or another crypto, and then you can choose which stablecoin you wish to borrow. There are several available including USDC, DAI, and GUSD. Borrowers pay back their loan at 1% APR. 

You can sign up to the waitlist for Celsius’s credit card which will allow you to earn rewards on your spending and earn interest on your crypto collateral at the same time. Unlike most crypto cards available, Celsius’s is an actual credit card. You deposit collateral to receive a credit limit. You pay back what you’ve spent just the same as a regular credit card. You can pay your credit back with rewards, stablecoins, or fiat. 

There is also a swap function coming soon on Celsius which will allow people to swap one crypto for another without fees. You can also send and receive crypto to and from other Celsius users for free using CelPay in the Celsius app. 

Registration & Verification

To sign up to Celsius, first enter your name and email and create a password. Then, confirm your email.

Then, you’ll need to create a six-digit PIN. After this, your account will be created but you will need to go through the verification process to start earning. The process is the same as regular crypto exchanges. 

You will need to provide your full name, date of birth, and address. 

Next, you will need to provide your taxpayer identification number or SSN. Then, you will need to upload a government-issued ID. 

Fees

Celsius claims to have zero fees. There are no transaction fees, deposit or withdrawal fees, or early termination fees. It’s not fully transparent how the Celsius Network earns money itself, but it’s likely there are fees within its lending and borrowing product for institutional investors. There are also some fees associated with purchasing crypto through third-parties and via credit/debit cards within the Celsius app. 

Currencies & Deposit Methods

To earn interest on your crypto holdings, you can deposit any of the accepted crypto on Celsius. They accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, many altcoins, stablecoins and even gold-backed tokens. 

You can earn interest in the same crypto, or you can choose to earn rewards in the Celsius token for up to 25% more yield. The maximum you can earn is 17% APY on the SNX token. 

You can also purchase crypto within the Celsius app with a debit/credit card or through various third parties offering bank transfers. We don’t think this is financially suitable for Canadians, however. If you wish to earn interest on your crypto, it’s best to simply transfer your crypto to Celsius for free, rather than purchase it on Celsius directly. 

Security and Safety

Celsius implements a number of security measures to keep your assets safe. They have 24/7 security, incident response drills, insurance, advanced data protection and multi-party computation. 

Celsius is also registered with FinCEN in the US and has a California Finance Lender Licence (license number 60DBO-133776). 

To keep your account safe, you can enable two-factor authentication, whitelist withdrawal addresses and activate HODL mode which will prevent any withdrawals from your account until you deactivate it. 

Mobile and Desktop app

The Celsius platform is simple to use. It has a clean layout and in the dashboard, you can view all of your crypto holdings, your earnings, and other coins that you can deposit. 

Click the “receive” tab to send crypto to your Celsius account to start earning. 

The Celsius mobile app has a 3.6-star rating from 1,800 reviews on the App Store and a 3.6-star rating from 7,200 reviews on Google Play. Most reviews are positive but some people cite bugs and the inability to autoinvest interest into any coin of your choice. 

Loan requests can only be completed using the Celsius app. You can also buy crypto with a credit card using the app. 

Customer Support

Celsius offers phone and email customer service six days a week. You can call or submit a ticket on their website. Celsius has 67% excellent customer reviews on Trustpilot, making it one of the best crypto platforms we’ve seen in terms of customer service. 

Conclusion

Celsius is a good way for Canadians to earn interest on their crypto. It can be beneficial to use Celsius if you plan to hold your crypto for at least a year to earn additional rewards. However, there are risks. The question you must ask yourself is, do you want to hand over your bitcoin and other crypto to a centralized platform that reserves the right to freeze or close your account at any time without notice? For some people, the 6% interest on their bitcoin is not worth these risks.

The other question is, does Celsius offer the best yields? The answer is often no. For example, you can get 10% APR on stablecoin lending on the crypto.com app compared to 8.5% on Celsius. You can also receive higher reward rates by simply staking crypto, such as Tezos or Polkadot, on the Ledger Live app. 

Celsius does offer an attractive interest rate on loans, however, at just 1% APR, but you must deposit your crypto as collateral which is a risk in itself. You could receive a margin call in which you will need to pay back your loan immediately, add more collateral, or risk losing all of your crypto.

If you’re looking to earn interest on your crypto holdings, Celsius can be a good choice, but it’s best to shop around and see if you can earn more on crypto exchanges or by staking. With staking, not only are you contributing to the crypto network but there are no fees, and no centralized risks. 

On July 13th, Celsius Network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Previously, they have suspended withdrawals, transfers and swaps due to a lack of liquidity. Do not consider Celsius Network as a tool for your crypto assets. The review below is outdated and we decided to keep it for educational purposes.