Crypto lending and borrowing platform Celsius has announced that it now holds more than $2.2 billion in digital assets under management (AUM).
According to a Nov. 9 release, Celsius has more than doubled its net crypto holdings six months after first surpassing $1 billion in June. The platform has attracted more than 215,000 total users worldwide in total.
Excluding its AUM, Celsius’s balance sheet now includes cash and its native CEL tokens worth more than $680 million.
Celsius offers a centralized alternative to decentralized finance (DeFi), dubbed ‘CeFi’ by much of the crypto community. Crypto assets deposited on the platform are lent to exchanges and market markers, with 80% of interest generated being distributed to depositors.
Since launching in July 2018, Celsius claims to have paid more than $80 million in rewards to depositors.
In the announcement, Celsius’ CEO and founder, Alex Mashkinsky, describes his company’s success as proving that “interest income is the new killer app for crypto.”
“We have created more income for our customers than anyone else in DeFi or CeFi, and we have no plans on slowing down any time soon.”
Last month, Mashinsky made headlines after gifting his wife 15 million CEL tokens worth $20 million for her birthday. Mashinsky remains the single-largest CEL holder despite the hefty present, while his wife is now CEL’s fourth-largest whale.
In August, Celsius raised $20 million from roughly 1,000 investors in an equity raise hosted by crypto platform BnkToTheFuture, drawing speculation regarding the company’s solvency.
This past weekend, rival crypto lending service Cred filed for bankruptcy, listing liabilities of up to ten times its assets, leaving users uncertain as to whether they will be able to recover their funds from the platform.
