Celsius Network, a cryptocurrency lending and borrowing platform, announced on Thursday it was named preferred interest-bearing wallet for the Litecoin Foundation. Along with the collaboration, the Litecoin Foundation board selected Celsius to manage a portion of their treasury, a first for the organization. Speaking about the partnership, Charlie Lee, Creator of Litecoin and Managing Director of the Litecoin Foundation, stated:
“We are excited to select Celsius Network to provide Litecoin holders a new set of use cases for their holdings. The ability to gain interest on, and take out loans against their litecoins, provides new opportunities for individuals to grow their holdings and take advantage of financial services that have previously been unavailable to cryptocurrency users.”
Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius Network, further explained:
“This has been a year of enormous growth for us. We have completed over $2.2 billion worth of coin loans, passed $350 million AUM in customer deposits, and distributed over $3.5 million in interest payments. This partnership with the Litecoin Foundation gives us access to an unprecedented amount of LTC holders, representing yet another monumental step for Celsius in our mission to bring financial services to the millions of unbanked around the world.”
The collaboration with the Litecoin Foundation comes just after Celsius Network announced it has increased interest rates for stablecoin deposits to 12.03% APR. According to Celsius, users who choose to earn interest in the platform’s blockchain-based CEL token can earn up to 30% more than the 9.25% depositors who are paid in-kind on their coins.