Day: June 23, 2020

Launched in 2017 by Alex Mashinsky the founder of the famous internet protocol VoIP. Celsius is a cryptocurrency based P2P lending platform. The platform like others was founded with the intent of enabling users to seek loans that benefit all users of the platform.

The platform works by enabling people to deposit cryptocurrency to the Celsius Network. They can then request a loan in US dollars. Alternatively people can deposit their cryptocurrency on the platform and accrue interest in the cryptocurrency they deposited or Celsius Tokens.

Loans are handled automatically by the system and require no user interaction. There is also no fund lockup. Users are free to deposit and withdraw their cryptocurrency as they please.

Yesterday Celsisus announced the launch of support for Ethereum Classic. This means that holders of Ethereum Classic can deposit their coins on to the platform and earn interest.

Founder and Chairperson of Ethereum Classic Labs, James Wo, had this to say:

Financial inclusion and diversity were key founding values of ETC Labs that hold true today. We’re excited to see ETC added to the Celsius wallet and made available to its 120,000 users,

James Wo

This adds Ethereum Classic to a list of over 20 supported currencies varying from majors like Bitcoin and Ethereum, to stable coins. Currently Ethereum Classic deposits are earning just over 6% APR if you choose to accrue more ETC, while if you choose to earn in CEL tokens the APR is just over 8%.

According to the Celsius Network website they currently have over 40,000 active wallets as well as over $300 million dollars in assets and with the addition of ETC this may be set to increase.

BitMEX founded in 2014 and most notably known for its cryptocurrency derivatives products has today announced the launch of BitMEX Corporate.

BitMEX Corporate is, as the name implies, BitMEX’s attempt at on boarding large corporate clients going into the future. These corporate clients can range to large financial institutions, to hedge funds, and trading firms.

In an email sent to users BitMEX outlines the benefits to corporate clients of signing up to the scheme:

• Corporate legal structure – Ensuring that accounts are property of the business rather than any individual
• Improved Service – Corporate clients will be assigned with a dedicated relationship manager.
• Improved Security – Clients will be given additional options in terms of account security.
• Increased rate limits on their account
• Incentive Programmes – Access to products incentive schemes, and market maker programs.

BitMEX’s attempt at increasing their corporate client base is a further signal of the increasing trend of both the increasing institutional presence in the cryptocurrency (typically taking the form of financial institutions wanting to trade cryptocurrency derivatives) and the push by cryptocurrency firms to onboard these corporate clients.

It is already known that large trading firms such as Alameda Research and Circle as well as a host of others use the platform. However, this is BitMEX’s attempt at making corporate onboarding easier.

Other popular exchanges such as Binance, FTX, and OKex have similar schemes for business clients.