The Celsius Fraud Is Even Worse Than We Thought

In the midst of the crypto frenzy between 2020-2021, Celsius soared to astounding heights with $25 billion in assets, promising investors unimaginable yields. However, what goes up, must come down. The subsequent bankruptcy, halted withdrawals, and the shocking arrest of CEO Alex Mashinsky have left the crypto world reeling. But what led to this dramatic downfall? And why did so many, including top crypto influencers, buy into this alleged deception?
Our previous Celsius video: • Reckless Greed | The C...
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#Wallstreetmillennial #crypto #celsius

[@tayzonday]

SOME OF YOU clicked on this expecting a takedown of the metric system too! 🧐

[@BoBandits]

I’m so confused.

[@mondieki]

🔥🔥 This comment should be pinned.

[@Blastoise9000]

😂 top tier nerd joke

[@zenkresnik]

As an American, this is hilarious. As an expat, however, I've fallen in love with the metric system. 😂

[@georgeorwell8501]

I am glad that the Celsius scale has finally been shown to be the fraud that it always been. Embrace antiquity. Use Fahrenheit.

[@Entertainment-]

One Ponzi Scheme offering 17% putting funds into another offering 20% (Terra) is so hilarious to me

[@friedpickles342]

Ftx.. Cell.. Both Jewish . . never trust jews

[@Frank-os6gq]

Exactly lol your running a crypto scam and your trusting that other big players arent also running a crypto scam lol

[@NeutralDrow]

**surprised Pikachu face**

[@JB-yb4wn]

All backed by Zimbabwean dollars. More trillionaires in Zimbabwe than anywhere else on the planet.

[@ikaros21]

That's why I always tell people. Just buy Bitcoin and hold it in your own personal wallet!

[@Sloppyjoey1]

I once saw Alex debate Peter Schiff and he ate him alive and called him an obvious fraud live on air. It was an intense debate because the moderator kept jumping in to favor Alex and once the fraud imploded the video was magically taken down. Peter asked him dozens of times where his yield was coming from and then called him a fraud, well you guessed it, investor funds WERE the 'yield'.

[@retroatx]

I saw that. Alex kept answering "it generates yield" but he couldn't explain how it generates yield. It felt like Alex didn't know the definition of yield.

[@davidm5417]

@@retroatx Everyone here is saying how obvious scam it was, but there are companies like that even today. For example Youhodler is offering 9.5% on USDT and USDC. They are apparently regulated in Switzerland and Cyprus. I know the interest rates are higher these days but can this model actually work even with smaller returns? Or is it more likely that they were doing the same as Celsius - trading with clients funds but managed to profit from that and hence they're still running?

[@brandmotivo]

Yeah I saw that video interview too and took my funds of Celsius 10 minutes later. Schiff saved me... a lot of people poke fun at Schiff but he'll be the last one laughing at some point.

[@HNedel]

Yeah, when he told him „you must be taking an enormous risk to offer such high yield, there is no other way“, you could see Schiff actually realizing there and then that it was a scam, and Alex trying to explain how it was not was hilarious and pathetic at the same time.

[@sprinkle61]

It would have been better if Peter had focused on the way Celsius worked, and not spent 90 % of his time hating on Bitcoin. To say that the Schiff video called out the fraud is to look back on certain small parts of the video, which only in retrospect were on the money. Its really more of a pro and anti bitcoin and crypto argument, and not at all focused on the Celsius fraud. There was actually a good argument for returns on crypto, because it was hard for people to get loans in this industry. Now that may have been an indicator of more risk, but Celsius didn't fail because of taking too much risk, but because it didn't have enough earnings to pay its yield, so it just ended up further and further in the hole, until the real huge risks had to be taken to try to get out, but it was too late.

[@lazslostpierre9951]

A ponzi scheme investing in another ponzi scheme to cover their losses. Welcome to the world of crypto.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

That's how banks work in general. You put your money in them (a ponzi scheme) for 3% (in normal times) and they put it in another ponzi scheme offering 6% and pocket the difference. Sometimes they lose money on the second ponzi scheme, so they lose money.

[@TheNefastor]

​@@thewhitefalcon8539bitch please. The banking system is what everyone uses to build everything in the world. What has crypto or any ponzi scheme ever been used to fund ?

[@skierpage]

​@@thewhitefalcon8539 you're just demonstrating you don't know what the words "Ponzi scheme" mean. Loaning money to people that they pay back with interest is called "banking."

[@porcus123]

​@@thewhitefalcon8539the problem is that when crypto goes to zero, it actually means ZERO.

[@blastification2]

​@@thewhitefalcon8539What do you think a ponzi scheme is, exactly?

[@jaad9848]

Celsius could have had a field full of red flags it still wouldnt have prevented influencers from shilling them as long as the check cleared.

[@andrewcurlutu6422]

Why...yes. Yes, exactly. "How can we fleece you? Let us count the ways..."

[@bogatyr2473]

Celsius was full of red flags. It was made of red flags. It was a clear Ponzi scheme from day one to everyone but the most brain rotted crypto bros.

[@bate01071]

Yep. It’s a hustle. And the influencers usually don’t have to expose themselves financially to get paid.

[@fakeplaystore7991]

If only you people had listened to Matt Jarbo and turned off that pesky Adblock, the influencers would never had to resort to accepting scam money to survive. Shame on you all.

[@wizzyno1566]

​@@fakeplaystore7991so its adblockers fault? You win "comments dick of the week".

[@IAMNOTGOODWITHCOMPUT]

Key takeaway: crypto influencers are tools

[@khanhnguyen-tt3ff]

They basically online snake oil salesmen

[@SchmitaEclipses]

Actually fuckwads...can I say that here...not sure if its in youtubes algo.

[@wyswygsommer2769]

During this bear market many of these influencers start searching for other income stream by creating new YT channel, new show, etc. They run out of sponsorship.

[@mikkelnpetersen]

Yup, nothing but mouth pieces.

[@kaym7704]

Crypto is a tool the influencers use to scam the masses

[@lchen2522]

I find it interesting that they bought into other crypto scams in hopes to keep afloat. So it seems that crypto gurus had no idea other crypto gurus were running the same scam as they were. Like they all thought the other guys were legit and better at business than themselves?

[@tomlxyz]

I think they just got desperate and hoped it would work long enough

[@jonathanj8303]

That, or they knew but just hoped to pull out the loot before the other scheme went bust.

[@PsyrenXY]

And that's what leads to Contagion

[@StephenGillie]

Lack of foresight pervades the industry. Like Terra/Luna not expecting their prices to go down. But it's almost like crypto was created by some intelligence organization, as a "Ponzi Honeypot" - knowing that if they lie about the privacy and other aspects of the technology, some criminals would find it perfect for conducting their grift - and some with the potential for criminality found a possible grift too interesting to ignore.

[@jonathanj8303]

@PsyrenXY Except that pretty much all of them are ponzi schemes anyway. The few that aren't are making risky bets for sub-parr returns. It's all going to collapse anyway, doesn't matter who invests in each other, you can't make value out of nothing. Even if SBF says you can.

[@7177YT]

They 'invested' in Terra/Luna lmao. They fell for the same type of scam they themselves were running? This is wild.

[@andrewcurlutu6422]

I'm sure Irony Meters everywhere had their needles jump into the red zone and start beeping for their lives on THAT one.

[@FadkinsDiet]

Or it was money laundering/blackmail/something else illegal.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

Terra/Luna was a completely different type of scam, if you can even call it one.

[@wizzyno1566]

​@@thewhitefalcon8539thats not the point. The point is its a scammer investing in another scammer.

[@wizzyno1566]

​@@FadkinsDietno, it was stupidity.

[@aletheia6672]

The main reason why crypto influencers became so popular at that time was because they preached exactly what their audience wanted to hear. Crypto investors who bought into Celsius were not merely victims; some of them were crypto zealots who were actively pushing crypto to newcomers. At BTC peak in 2021, these people were making a lot of money and behaving very arrogantly against people who did not share their cult-like beliefs. Consequently it is very hard to sympathize with them when they lose money as crypto company after company turn out to be frauds.

[@amorosogombe9650]

Exactly. Crypto is the biggest scam ever. It's completely pointless.

[@alphakevin687]

"have fun staying poor"

[@firecatskylar]

Like lmao that alone is why I have no sympathy for any of these people. They have such a disgusting, toxic mindset that it almost feels good that they lost so much but then I remember that they're actual people with families and so many of them probably lost everything they've built up. But like what did they say about Icurus and shit? Don't fly too close to the sun; it's hard to feel bad when literally everyone told them so.

[@sblijheid]

Don't feel bad for them. Ponzi schemes have been around for a while. Even when these people were and are told that crypto is a scam, they'll rationalize and buy more. If losing their shirt will open their eyes, then so be it.

[@rafaelm.2056]

It's similar to how Trump supporters are part of a cult. Trump tells them what they want to hear and they cheer him on because he speaks directly to their biases and bigotry and they gladly open up their wallets yet he has repeatedly failed to deliver on his promises.

[@jonathanj8303]

So if the folks investing in this really thought it was true, and they were getting 10-12% return which represented 80% of the take, who the hell did they think was borrowing billions at 15% when the FED rate was less than 1%? Oh, and those borrowers have *loads* of collateral too. I too, can double your money in a ridiculously short timescale, as long as you don't mind only getting a third of it back.

[@antman7673]

True. They are just so sophisticated. -Also Buying monkey pics for a quarter mill.

[@toomanyaccounts]

they claimed they only lent to those who put up 200% collateral meaning a 5 million loan would need 10 million assets if the loan defaulted. outside of loan sharks only a lender working with junk bond traders would have that requirement

[@jonathanj8303]

@WealthwiseCapital yeah right, you and SBF both.

[@kidd32888]

The banks would put their money in Celsius if this was true

[@Mrrossj01]

Why one third back? How about zero?

[@kcgunesq]

How do people hear, on the one hand "our borrowers are so sound that they never default" and on the other hand "we pay you 12% after we keep just a fraction" and not wonder why these A++ borrowers were willing to pay 15-20% interest rates.

[@Ealsante]

Even this sort of basic understanding that risk and reward are linked is not actually something everyone has.

[@kondor99999]

It’s pretty simple. To pay out 15% interest, it means there has to be someone else who’s willing to borrow at >15%. Anyone willing to pay 15% interest in 2020 had to be desperate, stupid or both.

[@Tone2K]

Not always. The amortization and loan terms can yield a higher return rate than the note rate of a loan a borrower pays.

[@jhutt8002]

​@@Tone2KSo where that money comes from?

[@MicheasHerman]

Or taking out a no-recourse loan to gamble with. Borrow a million dollars at 20% and make an options bet that probably goes to zero but might make you 80 million dollars. As long as you don't have to do anything besides say "here are your worthless options, my bad" it's a great loan to take out

[@cgasucks]

Only those with a 200 credit score would borrow at 15+% when prime was at near zero at that time.

[@kafteinn]

​@@cgasucks10k traditional loan from bank. 5x leveraged trade. Wait for 10% move. Payback 10k bank loan and keep 5k. While you have the position open you're paying high interests but nothing compared to the damage small price fluctuations can do to you. In 2020 everyone was doing this so there was a large market for high interest rate short term loans. Rates on the Celsius app would reflect market demand suggesting to me they were really lending my money to these people and if market conditions would change I could no longer expect returns.

[@MuhammadImHardBruceLee]

At how many degrees Celsius do people get burned..?

[@Nohandleentered]

Based on this vid, I’d say zero

[@ssuwandi3240]

I thanked Celcius unresponsive flow to set up an account. I have been at loss but big time win on this fraudster bunch . Israel origin like FTX, well correct me if am wrong.

[@ssuwandi3240]

Karma is unfolding before the eyes.

[@Homesweethome-n9n]

​@WealthwiseCapitalyeah good idea to pitch your scam on a video bout a scam.

[@sonofforever1]

@@Homesweethome-n9n😂😂😂😂

[@TonyEmond]

People really have no idea how interest and risk are linked -- high risk investments (like speculative loans) have high return rates while low risk investments like collateralized loans and bonds have significantly lower yields. But of course logic tends to go out the window the moment someone sells you something that breaks this relationship because of "innovation" -- or because "we're not greedy like the banks".

[@squirrelgolem]

Exactly this. Even Argentinian state bonds only yield about 10% pa (afaik), where do you have to go to get 15%+? Russian grey-market bonds?

[@jack90054]

@@squirrelgolem Or you know, gambling, which is essentially what these crypto "banks" do, putting bets (with customers' money) on all sorts of other Crypto projects (which surprise, surprise, doesn't work out)

[@fakeplaystore7991]

Even the Mob had to charge high interest on their loans, and they'd break your legs or worse if you didn't pay.

[@Tie509]

Scams always start with: "there's no risk!"

[@mikeshoults4155]

A cryptocurrency turns out to be a fraud? Wow that never happens!

[@desertdude540]

True, but *my* memecoin with a stupid name, Dude Weed 420 CBT Oil Coin, and its associated stoner monkey NFT series, Baked Baboons, are completely legit and you should definitely sink your life savings into them.

[@fakeplaystore7991]

Technically it wasn't the cryptocurrency per se, but the "investment" scheme that used those cryptocurrencies to scam their owners.

[@orangejjay]

Nah. Let's be real: Crypto is dumb. The lack of stability of nearly every crypto coin makes it risky to hold and risky to accept if you're a business. The idea is cute but given that the vast majority of its users are people who are just trying to make money off it means scams are everywhere and far more common than anything legitimate. Crypto makes Wall Street look good ... and that's a wild thing to see.

[@irvingr7538]

Wrong 😂

[@jerrykreutzer4326]

Good video except for the conclusion -- the investors did do "their own research". The problem is that nowadays that just means googling a few youtube/tiktok/reddit posts made by people who, as you described, have no deeper understanding and are simply regurgitating all the other posts. Simply put, the average Joe needs to stop doing "their own research" into deep and complex topics that they don't have any background in.

[@joesterling4299]

The whole crypto thing is like the Wild West. New frontier, lots of risks, lots of new people there who don't understand how it all works. So they're easy suckers and otherwise victims. Personally, I think that crypto as a whole is a scam. Its value is determined by how many people get convinced it's actually worth something, like fiat currency. But unlike the dollar, the USA doesn't back crypto with its full faith or credit. (Nobody backs the value of crypto.)

[@biguattipoptropica]

I think that the average person could be trusted to do their own research if they started with research into media literacy and critical thinking.

[@hoangle2483]

they really need to put financial literacy as a required subject in school.

[@tektronix475]

@@hoangle2483 are u trying to ruin the sys?

[@jerrykreutzer4326]

​@@biguattipoptropica You need a lot of background in a certain field to be able to do your own research in that field. It's not a simple as reading some stuff online no matter how much "critical thinking" you apply. How often do people freak out about completely normal "chemicals" in food or vaccines simply because they don't understand their purpose? Analysing financial investments is more subtle, but just as complex.

[@suprcrzy]

No regulations must be a scammers dream. 😂

[@David-ns8ft]

The fact the coin bureau guy compared high risk of default, uncollateralized credit card loans, to fully collateralized, low risk securities lending where in the event of a default the shares are seized is honestly mind boggling. Surely the issue they were claiming high yield low risk should make it clear to anyone its a scam.

[@latedoomer]

Every time one of these scams is revealed, everyone on the internet jumps into the comments and videos and declares how obvious of a scam it was. Yet these financial geniuses keep these wonderful insights to themselves back before the scam blows up. Y'all just have hindsight bias making you think you are smarter than you actually are.

[@toomanyaccounts]

@@latedoomer machinsy called such warnings FUD. sorry those who put money into were repeatedly told it was ascam

[@zeusmultirotor8479]

People really don’t understand how the existing financial system of fiat currency and banks works at all. Why would they have any chance understanding crypto, an attempt at building a new system?

[@HardstylePete]

It's mind blowing this attempted parallel about credit cards which usually have high default rates and would be totally unprofitable if cards had low rates. Further, banks usually offer lower rate cards without rewards however the lending criteria is vastly more strict.

[@gund89123]

If they are confident when they are saying BS people will believe it.

[@nelsondisalvatore9812]

Crypto? A scam? No!

[@TheL0wner]

a ponzi is a ponzi, the assets aren't important.

[@trevorgough2286]

You're so cynical.. I'm sure they meant well..

[@andrewcurlutu6422]

@@TheL0wnerActually, "A Ponzi is a Ponzi is a Ponzi" as Gertrude Stein might say.

[@fakeplaystore7991]

Shocking, isn't it?

[@sn4rff]

you'd like to think that the claim of having never had a single default would have been an alarm-bell - major banks spend loads on diligence but still have defaults, after all - but i guess people find it easy to suspend disbelief if they like what they're hearing.

[@conradomagalhaes525]

The Coinbureau guy is literally an actor who has no experience in finance 😂

[@alexanderhood8993]

So cryptocurreny company was essentially astroturfing their company legitmate status to convice people they're not a scam. Coinbureau was essentially a sockpuppet just to promote their company without anyone realizing.

[@taWay21]

Anyone else find it hilarious when the CEOs of these scam companies seem to always end up high-leverage trading in order to make good on their company shortfalls.

[@MugenTJ]

Because it’s a negative sum game.

[@counterleo]

So how many similar companies have done the same fraud, but got away with it because the CEO's trades / gambles ended up being successful? Cry... dot C... maybe? Lmao (also, dumb KZbin spam filter)

[@davidm5417]

@@counterleo I think there must be a lot....so many companies must have been doing the same thing and statistically some part of them must have been profitable...maybe they turned things around then and started doing stuff legally at some point

[@KingUnKaged]

Someday you're going to have to do a video on Andrei Jikh, The Typhoid Mary of bad financial advice in general, and crypto nonsense in particular

[@kieranelliott5607]

"It's actually simple: [They] lied" Turns out to be true of most if not all 'complex' scams.

[@nicholasdean3467]

So Celcius fell for the problem some 1980s junk bond or "high yield" investors fell for

[@DeMaan1988]

I feel like this is simply peoples greed. I know some people would say this was a reputable company and they trusted them but there has to be some accountability to the people who deposited. These returns are insane and make no sense. I feel like most people in this situation were being either desperate for high returns or greedy and they didnt think about what could happen.

[@davidm5417]

I disagree, at that time people kept hearing and seeing how crypto currencies are doubling, tripling their value within weeks...that could have been also too good to be true but it was actually true. Then they see celsius that is somehow in that business and offers a 'safer' way of investing which is weighted out by kind of small but stable returns. So in the end it was perhaps the less greedy and more cautious people that went for this instead of trying to multiply their investment in cryptos directly.

[@DeMaan1988]

@davidm5417 but safer investing has never returned the kinds of numbers that were being "achieved" a review of basic investing would have told anyone that.

[@davidm5417]

@@DeMaan1988 that's true but it was smart marketing and the mania was in Celsius' favour. I think the investor's approach was - if there is so many people who multiplied their investments in the last couple of years and so many crypto millionaires, why wouldn't one of the seemingly biggest companies in the field be unable to deliver just 12% return per year....and yes it's stupid to not think about how on earth it can be guaranteed

[@gaerekxenos]

@@DeMaan1988 The people getting into Crypto obviously weren't investors with experience and clearly didn't understand much of anything to do with investing in the first place. Probably didn't even do proper research on how investing even worked. A lot of it was likely a "monkey see, monkey do" sort of deal with many people getting into Crypto and seeing how other people somehow earned a lot from their investments (or were deluded into believing they were) The people I've known who did invest in Crypto, I've warned that it's a risky and short-term investment -- and that if they're going to do it, you have to get in quick and get out just as quickly before everything collapses. It's always been 100% greed with Crypto, at least after the first more-or-less successful one (even that one was fueled by greed in the latter half onward). The entire thing with Crypto is that it makes very little sense why you would need multiple different versions if there is an already existing version that seems to already work well enough. There are reasons, but nothing quite strong enough to state that other versions are absolutely needed beyond a doubt (if the first one was managed well and properly, in any case). Which just points back to greed with how people seem to enjoy the whole growth and burst cycle which leads to hot potatoing the debt bomb and seeing who it ends up exploding on In any case, I've refused to invest in Crypto (and basically refuse to invest in anything in the first place, since if I can invest in someone else... I can obviously invest in my own projects myself, no?). It's never made any sense to start with, and it's always been a bit of a wonder how BitCoin even managed to take off in the first place (well, actually... not really -- not when you see people boasting about its value multiplying from the pitiful amount it originated at and it being the first or only Crypto at the time that anyone could even name, which only served to help it explode when articles were written to publicize it even further - but that's only a hype train where everyone hopped on-board like the pre-regulation stock market to try to grab what they can and not because it was seen to have value initially)

[@PXAbstraction]

Crypto is a scam. All of it. Always.

[@penitenttangent7346]

Useless video game money 😂

[@HebryNegga-wy4zr]

Not bitcoin

[@PXAbstraction]

@@HebryNegga-wy4zr All of it.

[@carlahaiduk1878]

Right? Let's make it simple.

[@mark33545]

That blond lady in the vid with mashinsky, you can tell…. She knows.

[@MagnetoJones]

Next time you get an opportunity to invest in something, ask yourself if you truly believe in the project first. That’s the first step in avoiding an obvious scam. Step two: if you believe in the project, be prepared to lose your investment anyway. So many people with great ideas are terrible at executing those ideas. Finally, if the leader of a company is saying things that seem too good to be true, and can’t be proven, it’s time to *GET OUT*

[@aenorist2431]

Gonna stop you right there, mate. They can't have reached 25b in assets, everything on the platform was worthless by definiton of being crypto.

[@pical1208]

Lmao, crypto has value, I’ve continued to buy to this day, this is my third cycle already

[@henrylam92]

It was worth something because people put value on whatever they invested. People thought it was there ticket out of poverty based on empty promises

[@drey01]

@@pical1208 yet if you want to actually access that value you still have to sell it for real money in some currency. No real company is going to take your crypto for their actual goods or services.

[@jonlee2217]

@@pical1208 SBF would probably agree, but look at the position he's in now, lol.

[@fakeplaystore7991]

@@jonlee2217I wonder if they'll throw their golden Jew boy into a federal prison since he ended up scamming other Jews instead of fleecing only the goyim as he was supposed to. Or perhaps he'll manage to get a slap on the wrist due to being a Jew?

[@zachb1706]

Ahh the old "banks are stealing profits from you" scam that's been running for centuries

[@mediumraresteak851]

Peter Schiff knew from the start and called him out in a live interview. The vindication is real.

[@sapphiron21]

Schools really need to start teaching kids financial literacy, some very basic knowledge would have had people question the impossibly high interest and none of these dumpster fires wouldve happened. Give it another decade or 2 and all the lessons learnt from this would be forgotten and the next geration would be scammed by the same trick again.

[@carlahaiduk1878]

Students don't care. You can give them precious information. They find everything boring.

[@fakeplaystore7991]

@@carlahaiduk1878You can blame the school system and the teachers for that. I only started getting a passion for knowledge right AFTER I finished school. There wasn't a single teacher in more than a decade of school that made learning interesting.

[@DyllTomasic-kj7pd]

The biggest red flag shoulda been the crystals on dudes desk. If you believe that rocks have special powers you'll believe in anything.

[@AlanTheBeast100]

Influencers can ruin you. Finance influencers can ruin you a lot. If they're only lending money to "reputable borrowers", then 80% of the interest would be in the low to middle single digits. @3:00 "We had no loss, no, whadyacallit ...." Inspiring confidence!

[@laupernut]

That was my WTF moment.

[@Tone2K]

Crypto influencers hoping the conversion to Fahrenheit will solve all problems. What was 32 will now he worth 89! Winning.

[@amorosogombe9650]

Why does anyone still believe in crypto? It's such bullcrap.

[@Tie509]

FTT tokens used as collateral. So they used magic beans as collateral for actual cash.

[@andrewcurlutu6422]

FTT? Wasn't that Sam Bilker Fraud's deal? Also, I though "magic beans" were good for you to eat, but not to anybody in a 10' radius of you?

[@TheLockerzer]

Your consistency of dropping has truly changed my life

[@Daniel-Six]

Guy Turner (the bloke who runs Coin Bureau) took a massive hit to his professional credibility for shilling Celsius. It was incredibly awkward watching him walk back his endorsement as everything blew up.

[@hammerfist8763]

How could anyone not realize it was a scam when it pays interest at 10-15 points higher than market?

[@bennyx1281]

The market, the banks, other financial services make that with our money but the people who's money they are using only get a small piece. Also some exchanges that failed had coins ( the exchanges coin) that were not stablecoins, or at least pegged to anything. Hmmm 🤨reminds me of the US dollar which is only backed by a promise to be honored at face value. Not backed by physical gold like it was at one time .

[@hammerfist8763]

@@bennyx1281 First of all the market doesn't make anything, but long term S&P returns have been around 10%. Investment banking makes 20+% margin by taking on significant risks. Commercial banking has a much lower profit margins, around 2%. Interest on savings deposit is risk free because of FDIC and dependent on the prime rate. If someone offers to pay 10x more for something than it's worth, it means they're desperate or trying to scam you. Either way it's a really bad idea to do business with them. In this case, Celcius was desperate and they scammed people. Be serious: If you can borrow money at 1.5%, would you really run out and offer to pay 15% instead? Like when you do a house or a car loan, do you argue with the loan officer when they give you a 3% loan and say, "No, I want to pay 30% interest!" GTFO.

[@caanosadax9561]

@@bennyx1281stop lying

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

That was the market rate for incredibly risky crypto loans. It wasn't higher than market.

[@wizzyno1566]

​@@bennyx1281😂😂😂🤡

[@Marisol1711]

I cannot understand how people fall for this blatant scams

[@Andy-mg9nw]

If you don't understand the yield. You are the yield

[@DM-yj9qf]

what was the exit plan to this? in what scenario was jail not the long term outcome?

[@desertdude540]

They never think that far ahead or else think they'll recognize the inevitable collapse far enough out to be able to take a "vacation" to somewhere that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US before it falls apart.

[@tomo1168]

they shoul call this platform Fahrenheit instead.

[@KerbalLauncher]

The cost of lending for banks is quite high because they are heavily regulated entities (liquidity requirements, lending restrictions, due diligence, federal rate premiums, etc.) that all at the very least add massive amounts of administrative overhead and marginal cost. This is also why consumer banks (nowadays) rarely, if ever, fail.

[@makingmoneywithmj7752]

Taking customer deposits and replacing it with an illiquid token to make risky crypto bets in a bear market....starting to sense a pattern....

[@michael-qp9xd]

I remember Munger and Buffett saying crypto just rat poison. They have this right. Making a lot of money is hard but many think just do this one easy thing and millions.

[@cuantrail]

Why can't we just teach children in elementary school that if anyone anywhere offers you a 17% risk free return they are lying. Then we could avoid all this stuff.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

True, but a lot of people get rich on 17% risky returns. And just as many people get poor.

[@wizzyno1566]

​@@thewhitefalcon8539far more people get poor, because at that rate its just gambling.

[@Noah_E]

Financial illiteracy has been a major problem for years, but especially the last 30. That's why so many younger people complain about struggling financially. They flat out don't understand the connection between cause and affect and that a liberal arts degree is essentially worthless. I have degrees in Economics, Finance, Engineering, and ISAT (Integrated Science & Technology). My main source of income is securities litigation consulting, but I also own a tree farm and co-own a saw mill. A solid third of the last two decades I was able to earn 22-28% returns on my investments simply by not being dumb. Read financial filings and don't invest in things you don't understand.

[@sonyakinsey4376]

"It's not rocket science." No, it certainly isn't. That would require accurate calculations and accountability.

[@thehoodedteddy1335]

In other news, fire is hot

[@andrewcurlutu6422]

At THIS rate, people MAY actually come to terms with the fact that water is wet and icebergs were bad for the Titanic.

[@WillowSkyes]

"crypto influencers aren't very smart" yup, that's the long and short of it.

[@patrickbroaden9820]

Great videos. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@TungTran-pp3tx]

My rule of thumb when investing: investing is play money, meaning if I lose them, I am not financially crippled. If it’s too good to be true/free money, it’s a scam. You can listen to financial advice but do your own research.

[@counterleo]

At that time, there were yield farms boasting double digit APRs on stables at every corner. 12% sounded really low and "reasonable" in the crypto world. CDC was also lending at 12%. It did not take very long for CDC to change the rates and bring them down a lot, but they did offer 12% back then, and were legit and are still around today (and fully regulated).

[@counterleo]

CDC meaning Cry... dot C... KZbin will flag me for spam if I spell it out lol

[@ethanlieske9678]

How the hell do people think you can get 15% yields when mortgage rates where 3.5% ?

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

Returns go up when risk goes up. Anything in the crypto space is very risky - that means the interest rates are also high.

[@Palemagpie]

Why would any "institutional Investor" take out a loan at 15% interest, daily?

[@jonahfalcon1970]

If you're listening to clowns like "The Coin Bureau", unless they're talking about coin collecting (which has actual value), just run.

[@Palemagpie]

You collect coins too?

[@jonahfalcon1970]

@@Palemagpie Nah. Was never able to find a valuable wheat penny.

[@Zordiak]

I have no sympathy for people when I hear "I invested my life savings because I trusted a crypto influencer". Yeah you deserve to lose your money if that's the case.

[@julianfoot8748]

Lending to wood nymphs is always problematic.

[@Mrrossj01]

Thanks for clarifying Coin Bureau. Good reporting.

[@JustMe-xb4ey]

Great reporting brother!

[@julieta203]

I remember the first time i discovered staking on various exchanges and thought to myself this is literally a pyramid scheme!

[@JohnSmith-cb9lr]

I was smart enough to know I don't understand crypto, and I stayed out. Many of things could have happened to me if i participated, but one thing that didn't is losing everything I have. Stash it somewhere safe, fellas.

[@fleshworm]

Or at least don't put all you have into one thing, especially if it seems much better than everything else...

[@chessdad182]

People will believe what they want to believe.

[@DannyBrooks1]

So glad I got out before the collapse! It could have completely wiped me out.

[@acceptyourchallenge]

Is there a crypto project that hasn’t been a scam or fraud?

[@mrgadget1485]

No! They are all scams!

[@jonahfalcon1970]

Free money? Naw, couldn't be a scam.

[@thehegemon996]

“So we are still batting .100 there” is a pretty accurate quote

[@michaelgf8840]

So happy I got out early. My prayers for those stuck...

[@bigk8210]

There is actually such a thing as a "crypto influencer" 🤯

[@mrgadget1485]

They are the lowest form of life on Earth.

[@simeon8360]

This is an excellent analysis. Thank you

[@TH3_C4PYBARA]

Your videos are super informative and cut through lies and bullshit. Thank you for posting this

[@hotsauceislethal]

Someone needs to launch a platform called Fahrenheit now 😂

[@cinesnipe599]

these influencers should be liable for what they espouse.

[@zg-it]

Damn, I thought this was about thermometers. Fahrenheit rules!!

[@sblijheid]

I didn't know about the wild interest claims. I only watch crypto from afar. I don't bother with it because they have no underlying, and therefore, no intrinsic value. I understand that some people are entheusiastic about it, but that simply goes to show that they have no understanding of business, finance, or securities. One question would've kept a prudent person away: "Why would any business with good collateral borrow at 15% from Celcius if they could get a loan for 4% at a traditional lender?" Interest is expensive. No company wants to pay more if they can get it for less. The truth is that these people wanted to believe the lies.

[@rebeccanater]

I dont understand how crypto is actually currency if its only used to trade with other cryptos? Bitcoin and etherium are the only ones used to actually buy goods.

[@chibinya]

Its very easy to find someone that will buy them for cash, usually takes seconds in any major exchange. This makes them a very liquid asset, second only to the fiat currency.

[@astrodomelife1819]

take a shot everytime Wall street Millenial upload a video and must include a sentence "house of cards"

[@repomannv]

Had Celsius lasted just a little longer, Chamath would have taken it public via a SPAC! Anyone who didn’t see this as a scam from the jump was blinded by greed

[@awildsylveon9896]

You should always ask yourself, if this investment opportunity is so good, why is this person trying to sell it to me instead of buying it all up themselves?

[@LungYang]

What do borrowers do with crypto? Probably gamble too.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

Yes. The most common use of a crypto loan is to buy crypto and hope it goes up.

[@GreenspudTrades]

Lol I thought you was gonna tall about the drink

[@tradefortutara9608]

Thanks, Coffeezilla.☕

[@ssam1337]

Also... its funny to think how much value of Bitcoin is just companies and private investors trying to do a "Hail Mary touchdown" when trying to avoid bankruptcy.

[@Max._Power]

the guy trying to explain why celsius is able to get insanely high rates with almost no risk was so close to understanding that it was meaningless, if something in finance is ultra low risk, it's ultra low reward, if there was a low risk high reward strategy everyone would be doing it.

[@bbednarik]

Thank you!

[@rlg222]

I'm glad I never got involved with this stuff. I made my own mistake by not selling back in Nov. 2022..

[@SOURJDADDY]

For a second I thought you were talking about the drink haha

[@dartz005]

Gotta love how the Coin Bureau was talking about bank trading registered securities, but completely ignoring the fact that Celsius was trading unregistered securities. That was a really good way to spot a crypto-loser... I mean influencer. After all, why do any real work when you can just go around begging people online to buy your worthless token and/or receipts when you can promise a referral discount in exchange for a kickback. I don't even bother with those referral links on KZbinrs I trust. Mostly because, if I want to use the product their pitching, I'll just pay for it myself as is.

[@jonahfalcon1970]

What, the world is forced to go back to Fahrenheit?

[@mistermoneyman8899]

LOVE your videos!! ESPECIALLY the planet fitness video..... Any chance you can do a video about the MOVING INDUSTRY?

[@jburron]

Harder to perpetuate fraud/Ponzi if the journalists did some diligence and didn’t give these jokers a platform.

[@Sir_Lagg_A_Lot]

There were a few youtube channels that were sounding the alarm early, but they didn't have a big influence.

[@erinfindsen4953]

3:35 poor guy made a baseball reference he didn’t understand was wrong

[@WyomingGuy876]

Alex Mashinsky (born 1965) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli-American entrepreneur, business executive and alleged fraudster. Mashinsky was born in 1965 in the Soviet Union to a Jewish family. His family obtained permission to leave the country in the 1970s[12] and later moved to Israel. He served in the Israeli Army, where he trained as a pilot and served in the Golani Brigade, from 1984 to 1987.[14][13] In 1988, he left Israel and moved to the United States

[@KelstraTech]

06:34 "seeked". 😅

[@Nohandleentered]

They weren’t very good at math 🧮

[@Elliott_Wave]

that's, what I could never understand, that 15%...

[@kalibbailey6219]

If Celsius would've just transparently used investor money to fund returns, venture capitalists would've eaten the losses as long as the stock was "valuable"

[@MarvinJonesEsq]

Excellent video.