Celsius heats up with interest-paying crypto accounts
With a launch just over three months ago, crypto lending startup Celsius claims to have more than 10,000 accounts already. Why the fast growth? Celsius is paying interest to account holders, which it says amounts to a 6.7% return on investment. Celsius is funding these interest payments through its main business: lending out crypto primarily to hedge fans, who are shorting particular tokens. When it gets paid by the borrowers, it shares the wealth.
"When we make interest income we pay a chunk of that back to the people who gave us BTC," Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky told CoinDesk. Mashinsky is a long-time entrepreneur who helped pioneer internet voice calls more than a quarter century ago. While most accounts at Celsius are small currently, the firm is growing quickly and adding hundreds of new customers a week. Crypto lending has had regulatory issues and few successes so far. Celsius, at least, is adding heat to the market as is fellow newcomer Compound. (Source: CoinDesk)
