Celsius becomes first CeFi or DeFi platform to cross $20B AUM

Crypto lending platform Celsius Network has reported it holds more than $20 billion in digital assets, making the company one of the largest in decentralized finance.

In a Tuesday announcement, Celsius said its holdings had grown more than 1,900% in less than a year, from $1 billion in June 2020 to $20.3 billion as of Aug. 13. The company conducted an internal audit using technology provided by analytics firm Chainalysis, also determining it was adding roughly $1 billion in new digital assets monthly.

According to Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, the platform’s growth could be attributed to its “low-cost lending and high-interest yield on 43 cryptocurrencies” as well as its community-centric model. The Celsius website shows the platform currently has more than 962,000 users, or roughly 1% of its goal “to bring the next 100 million people into crypto.”

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In March, research from Alpha Sigma Capital — also an investor in Celsius — suggested that the platform would reach $30 billion in assets under management by the end of 2025. Though the decentralized finance, or DeFi, space has been disrupted with its largest-ever attack through an exploit in the Poly Network this month, Celsius has paid out $468 million in crypto rewards to depositors in the last year.