# Celsius Network Financial Model Crypto lending and borrowing platform that pays depositors interest on their crypto holdings and charges borrowers a higher rate - the "unbank yourself" spread business. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/celsius-network - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/celsius-network.xlsx - Category: Crypto/Web3 - Model type: Lending / Credit - Funding round: Series A - Funding: $20.5M - Founded: 2019 - Geography: Global (deck references worldwide wallet counts; no single HQ market emphasised) - Customer: B2C ## About the company Celsius Network was a crypto lending and borrowing platform built around a spread business: users deposited digital assets to earn yield, while borrowers paid a higher rate for credit. Its economics are closer to a specialty lender or digital bank than a transaction-only exchange. The 2019 deck frames the proposition globally and provides no explicit series label, but its model requires careful treatment of crypto price exposure and liquidity. Deposits create the funding base; only the deployed portion earns borrower interest, while eligible depositor balances may carry interest expense. Build a balance-sheet-led NIM waterfall: deposits and asset prices determine AUM, utilisation determines deployed capital, and borrower yield less depositor yield produces net interest income. Add loan losses, collateral and liquidity buffers, operating costs, and capital needs before EBITDA. Scenarios flex deposit growth, utilisation, rates, coin prices, defaults, and regulatory constraints. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - Mobile wallet app (iOS/Android) where users deposit crypto assets and earn weekly interest paid in-kind (coins) or in CEL token - Depositors earn 3–8% APY depending on asset - Borrowers use crypto as collateral and take USD/fiat loans at 9% APR - Platform token (CEL) confers deposit privileges and higher yield tiers - CelPay: peer-to-peer coin transfers within the app - Tagline: "From VOIP to MOIP" - positioning Celsius as the financial layer of blockchain analogous to how VoIP disrupted telephony - Forbes named Celsius #3 "New Blockchain Company To Watch" ## Market - Crypto total market cap at time of deck: ~$500B - Reference comparators to frame addressable financial markets: - Gold Market Cap: $8.2T - Physical Money: $31T - Stock Markets: $80T - All Liquid Money: $95T - Bitcoin active addresses growing from ~10 per day in 2010 to ~1M+ by 2018 (log-scale) - Total crypto wallets worldwide growing to ~28–30M as of most recent quarter shown, with peak market cap ~$600B - World population wealth stratification cited: High Net Worth 52.5M (0.7%); Mass Affluent 592.5M (7.9%); Consuming Middle 1.6B (21.3%); Lower Class 5.2B (70.1%) - used to argue blockchain can serve the unbanked majority - No explicit TAM/SAM/SOM framework or $ figure claimed for Celsius's own serviceable market ## Revenue model - Net Interest Margin: borrow coins from depositors at ~7% APY paid out, lend/deploy at ~9% APR charged to borrowers → ~200bps gross spread - Deployment channels (slide 37): 1. Lend to institutional traders / exchanges (GDax, Gemini, Kraken) to settle margin trades 2. Lend to banks & financial institutions (Fidelity, Interactive Brokers) via escrow deposits 3. Custodians (itBit) hold underlying coins - Revenue = interest charged to borrowers minus interest paid to depositors, captured as the spread on AUM deployed - CEL token: utility token that may confer fee discounts / higher yields - implicit demand driver for the CEL token, but token economics revenue not explicitly quantified in deck - No fee revenue, trading revenue, or subscription revenue mentioned ## Traction & metrics All from slide 32 ("Celsius Network in 2019") and slide 31: | Metric | Value | Source | | -- | -- | -- | | Coin loan origination (cumulative) | +$1.2B | - | | AUM | $200M | - | | Users depositing more than once | 79% | - | | Average deposits per user | 6.89x | - | | Net positive deposit days | 93% (226 of 242 operating days) | - | | Retention rate on top coins | Average 85% | - | | App downloads | 65,000 in 9 months | - | | Organic download rate | 90% | - | ## Unit economics - Deposit rate paid to lenders: ~7% (headline; actual varies by coin 3.00%–8.00%) - Loan rate charged to borrowers: 9% - Implied gross NIM: ~200bps on deployed capital - 90% organic acquisition rate implies very low CAC - Coin-level spread varies: stablecoin yields (USDC/TUSD/PAX) at 7.10%, BTC at 6.40%, ETH at 3.15% - stablecoins likely attract higher deposit rates because demand from borrowers is higher ## Competition / moat - Implicit competitive frame: banks pay depositors ~1% and charge 24% on credit cards; Celsius pays 7% and charges 9% - the value proposition IS the margin compression vs. TradFi - No direct crypto competitor comparison table in deck - Moat arguments made: community/network effects (CEL token, CelPay social graph), 90% organic growth, brand ("Unbank Yourself"), first-mover positioning as "killer app" for mass crypto adoption - Blockchain inventor Scott Stornetta cited as advisor/partner - credibility signal ## Team & funding ask / use of funds - Team slide: Group photo only, no bios; CEO is Alex Mashinsky (founder of VOIP - referenced in narrative throughout deck) - Blockchain Inventor Scott Stornetta highlighted as a key external figure --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** Crypto lending NIM / balance sheet model - analogous to a specialty finance company or digital bank. Core economics are driven by AUM (deposits), utilisation rate (% deployed as loans), gross spread (borrow rate minus deposit rate), and coin price exposure. A 3-statement model is secondary; the primary output is a NIM waterfall: AUM → Deployed Capital → Gross Interest Income → Interest Expense (depositor yield) → Net Interest Income → OpEx → EBITDA. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** 3 years monthly (2019–2022); monthly needed to capture AUM ramp, coin price volatility, and cohort retention dynamics. Add a quarterly summary view. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** | Driver | Seed value | | -- | -- | | Opening AUM | $200M | | AUM growth rate (MoM) | 10–15% | | Loan utilisation rate (AUM deployed as loans) | 60–75% | | Gross loan yield (borrower rate) | 9.0% | | Weighted avg deposit rate | 5.5–7.0% | | Net Interest Margin | ~200–350bps | | Coin price index (BTC proxy) | Mark-to-market | | User retention (deposit repeat rate) | 79–85% | | Avg deposits per user | 6.89x | | CAC | $5–20 per user | - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - **Base:** AUM grows 10% MoM; utilisation 65%; NIM 200bps; BTC flat from 2019 levels - **Bull:** AUM grows 20% MoM; utilisation 75%; NIM 250bps; BTC +50% tailwind inflating USD AUM - **Bear:** AUM flat/declining (crypto bear market, like 2018 draw-down of 83–91% cited); utilisation 40%; NIM compresses to 150bps as depositor demand outstrips borrower demand; user redemptions spike - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. **Assumptions** - all inputs in one place, clearly flagged vs 2. **AUM Build** - monthly: opening AUM, net new deposits, withdrawals, coin price adjustment, closing AUM 3. **NIM Waterfall** - gross interest income, interest expense, net interest income by month 4. **P&L** - NII less OpEx (staff, custody fees, exchange fees, compliance, marketing) → EBITDA 5. **Cash / Liquidity** - fiat cash position (USD), coin inventory, collateral escrow; basic liquidity buffer check 6. **Coin Mix Table** - breakdown of AUM and deposit rates by coin (BTC, ETH, stablecoins, altcoins) to track blended yield 7. **Sensitivity** - NIM vs AUM size; NIM vs crypto price (±20%, ±50%); NIM vs utilisation rate 8. **Dashboard** - KPI summary: AUM, NII, NIM%, users, loan book, interest expense ratio ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Celsius Network financial model free? Yes. The Celsius Network model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.