You guys are suckers for centralization, aren't you?

I wonder where the crypto crowd of 2016 is now — you know, the ones who actually had a philosophy of bettering humanity through financial decentralization and sovereignty. Did they all cash out and move to Bali, or do they continue to participate in this ridiculous, cynical money grab of a market that is 2020 crypto?

How in the world does something like Celsius Network scam its way into more than US $2 billion in assets under management with a completely centralized platform that offers objectively uncompetitive interest rates for stakers and investors? Granted, many of the high APYs on the Ethereum network are scam projects, but there are definitely projects like Alpha Finance that are providing the returns that crypto is supposed to provide for the technical risk you take. But here we are, people freely giving their money and mindshare to an openly centralized, willfully regulated platform that could be nothing more than a power grab for financial oligarchs behind the scenes.

I'm disappointed in you, crypto. 

The Lending/Borrowing Thing

Celsius advertises itself as a platform that lets you hold your collateral for an interest rate and borrow against it. This would be a novel idea if it weren't already an old one. There are plenty of protocols that allow you to do this — cream.finance, coinloan, even Binance. These platforms also offer better interest rates on your collateral, all without you having to give up a shred of your personal information.

The one advantage that Celsius supposedly offers is added security over your funds. This is just a marketing scheme. You can keep your funds just as safe as any centralized company with just a few steps. A Ledger costs less than $200, and learning to avoid scams and protect your own crypto takes 30 minutes, tops. Take the time to learn and you maintain your personal sovereignty, as well as that of your loved ones, for a lifetime, potentially.

The Con of Increased Security

Why then would anyone knowingly move to Celsius where your information is centralized and easy pickings for any government that wants to completely wreck your crypto portfolio? Once Celsius gathers all of your information, all it takes is one edict from on high out of the World Economic Forum for your local acolyte politician to snuff out the entire operation and turn your funds into dust. Major governments have initiated confiscation schemes before, and they did it through centralizing collateral in private companies.

The gold grab of Executive Order 6102, for example, would never have worked if a large majority of people didn't house their physical gold in banks. Those banks were easily corralled by government, and with that leverage, individuals without the wherewithal to take control of their own money were forced to sell it at ridiculously low prices to the government. And thus the modern financial cabal was born.

Even without the risk of confiscation, you are NOT protecting your funds more professionally through Celsius. The entire marketing campaign of this and other networks is based on the ignorance of the public. We owe it to ourselves to educate our families on how to maintain the sovereignty of their own financial life.

The Centralists Will Win

I don't know why I continue to rage on about topics like this. The centralists will win. Human nature is predisposed to seek out centralization. We see this in politics, economics and social order. We are trained to form ourselves into pyramids. Regardless of the tools we are given, because human nature has not fundamentally changed, we will eventually see the centralization of crypto and the entire industry being usurped into centralized finance.

Many of the people who were smart enough not to turn their gold in just because some executive order told them to turned out to be generationally rich. Take it upon yourself to protect your financial sovereignty so that when the eventual hammer comes down, you will have a substantial amount of value that is outside of the reach of the system and untouchable. I can tell you with certainty that place is not with Celsius.