Celsius Network expands Series B funding round to $750mln

Celsius will also allocate funds to improving the ‘utility of its platform’ and its commitment to sustainable Bitcoin mining

Crypto lending firm Celsius Network has expanded its $400-million Series B funding round from October to $750 million as a result of oversubscription in the firm’s capital raise.

The company is now valued at $3.5 billion following the raise, and CEO Alex Mashinsky told Cointelegraph he expects that figure to ‘double or triple’ next year, which would see it valued between $7 billion and $10.5 billion.

The firm previously closed the round on Oct. 12 amid a period of intense scrutiny placed on crypto lending firms from local regulators. Mashinsky emphasized at the time that it’s not $400 million. It’s the credibility that comes with the people who wrote those checks.

In an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on Wednesday, Celsius outlined that new funds will go toward expanding into new markets and product offerings, along with building its recently announced centralized finance-to-decentralized finance (DeFi) bridging project ‘CelsiusX.’

Celsius will also allocate funds to improving the ‘utility of its platform’ and its commitment to sustainable Bitcoin (BTC) mining.

Speaking on the $750-million funding round with Cointelegraph, Mashinsky said that the fact that the round was oversubscribed shows a ‘very good indication’ of the strength of the Celsius brand, which he said was user focused.

If you think of what we do, which is pay yield to the community, you know, we paid over $1 billion to our community, and we basically get that yield from exchanges and institutions. And most of our competitors, they charge the customers fees and give all that money to their shareholders, he said.

Celsius outlined plans earlier this week to invest an additional $300 million into scaling its BTC mining operations in North America, taking its total spending on the sector to $500 million.