The story of the 28-year-old engineer who took a loan out against his Bitcoin to pay for his mom’s house.
Looking to take out a crypto loan? Here’s what you need to know
Cryptocurrency-based loans have grown to be one of the most utilized decentralized finance (DeFi) that have emerged from the cryptoverse.
New crypto card by Nexo allows users to pay without selling Bitcoin
Nexo has officially launched its cryptocurrency credit card in collaboration with Mastercard after announcing the project back in 2019.
Michael Saylor: Financial markets are ‘not quite ready’ for Bitcoin bonds
“Not quite ready” — MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor said that traditional financial markets aren’t prepared for bonds backed by Bitcoin.
MicroStrategy subsidiary will purchase Bitcoin after closing $205M crypto-collateralized loan
The price of Bitcoin is $47,806 at the time of publication, making MicroStrategy’s current 125,051 BTC holdings worth roughly $6 billion.
Crypto.com gives users in excluded countries one week to repay loans
The decision by Crypto.com comes just within a month of BlockFi’s $100 million penalties for its lending products, as many speculate regulatory clampdown could be the potential reason behind the decision.
Hashstack launches Open protocol testnet, offering under-collateralized loans
Harmony’s Ecosystem Fund financed Hashstack’s solution to improving DeFi lending.
What are flash loans in DeFi?
Flash loans, though relatively new, are quickly rising in popularity. Learn more about these uncollateralized-type loans in crypto in the article below.
El Salvador explores low-interest loans backed by Bitcoin
The Salvadoran government is looking to create a Bitcoin-backed loan product for micro and small businesses across the country.
Genesis issues $6M NFT-backed loan to Meta4 Capital
Institutional investors are increasingly entering the NFT space, particularly interested in providing original lending solutions.
Crypto exchange Kraken’s new NFT marketplace to issue loans
Jesse Powell said the exchange will expand into a marketplace for nonfungible tokens and NFT-backed loans beginning in 2022.
Nexo partners with Three Arrows Capital to launch NFT lending & art financing service
Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks NFTs are two of the options supported as collateral for crypto credit lines on the platform.
Tether fires back against report it is using reserves for investments and making crypto-backed loans
“If those loans fail, even a small percentage of them, one Tether would become worth less than $1,” said Bloomberg reporter Zeke Faux.
Silvergate Bank issues $100M credit line to mining firm Marathon Digital
“We remain optimistic that we are well positioned to scale our hash rate to 13.3 EH/s by the middle of 2022,” said Marathon Digital CEO Fred Thiel.
Square to acquire Australian fintech Afterpay in $29B deal
Square will acquire Australian fintech firm Afterpay in a $29 billion stock deal, expecting to close the transaction in Q1 2022.
Argo Blockchain receives $20M Bitcoin-backed loan from Galaxy Digital for Texas mining facility
The U.K.-based mining firm’s announcement comes amid the country’s Financial Conduct Authority cracking down on crypto exchanges.
Celsius Crosses New Company-High In BTC Assets
Crypto yield-earning platform Celsius now holds over 100 bitcoin, according to a company press release issued today. BTC accounts for roughly 25% of the platform’s total community assets.
Celsius: The In’s And Out’s
Despite a challenging month for bitcoin in May, the company also reported that BTC users with inflows over doubled the amount of users transferring out BTC, with roughly 750,000 users globally. The company’s landmark passing of 100K BTC holdings sets a new company high.
APY rewards for Celsius users vary, generally between 3.51% – 6.2% for U.S. users, depending on the amount of BTC in their account. International customers are currently offered 4.4% APY for BTC in their Celsius accounts. In today’s release, the company noted that nearly 2,500 BTC have been paid out to customers in crypto rewards.
The other side of Celsius’ business is through borrowing; the firm offers no origination fees, no credit checks, easy refinance options, and aggressive rates for borrowers in both USD and in a variety of stablecoins. Crypto lending has increased in popularity recently, and could potentially improve general liquidity and price discovery for many assets, but also comes with inherent risks.
Related Reading | Celsius Network’s CEL Token Now Listed On OKEx
The Competition
Celsius continues to emerge in a competitive DeFi crypto lending landscape, battling with notable contenders such as Nexo and BlockFi. Aggressive rates continue to be a major sticking point for consumers. BlockFi is currently offering anywhere from 0.5% to 5% APY for BTC interest, and Nexo is currently offering between 6% and 8% APY on BTC interest. Rates often are variable and can fluctuate, and will also depend on whether the consumer is redeeming them through BTC or through the platform’s native coin. However, native token rewards are typically not accessible for U.S. consumers.
Celsius' native token, CEL, is sitting at record high levels lately. | Source: CEL-USD on TradingView.com
What It Means
Celsius started off in 2017 and now looks to maintain a somewhat aggressive strategy to grow it’s position in the market, amassing over $5B in crypto assets. The firm continues to look at partnerships to bolster growth, including a recent partnership with NBA athlete and crypto entrepreneur Spencer Dinwiddie, and increasing conversations surrounding the firm’s upcoming web app.
Additionally, the platform could likely look at more corporate partners to increase growth as well. Last month, the platform partnered with B21 Crypto, a global, mobile-first crypto platform. This allowed B21 to launch a new ‘Earn’ feature, allowing the company’s users across 82 different countries access to the weekly yield services that Celsius provides to it’s consumers. The company has also invested further in similar partnerships that have already been established, including crypto exchange Liquid. Liquid was the first exchange to support Celsius’ native CEL token in 2019.
Related Reading | Passive Income, A Unique Blockchain Token Re-Imagining DeFi Yield Generation
Featured image from Pixabay, Charts from TradingView.com
Pantera Capital backs Liquity Protocol’s $6M Series A funding round
Liquity Protocol, which provides interest-free borrowing on the Ethereum network, plans to expand its ecosystem and hire more resources following the latest funding round.
Growth hacker uses crypto to help the unhoused
Giacomo Arcaro distributed more than $20,000 worth of Ether to some of New York City’s homeless population last weekend.
Crypto-collateralized loans may soon bring new investors to space
“Traditional lending services generally do not exist in the digital currency industry, which means there aren’t many lenders for investors to choose from,” said Jon Melton.