Celsius vs. Voyager: Crypto Interest Account Apps Review

Celsius vs. Voyager is a comparison often made by people who have recently discovered the existence of cryptocurrency interest accounts. Both Celsius and Voyager allow you to earn interest on your idle cryptocurrency assets but have some meaningful differences.

Founded in 2017, Celsius Network is considered one of the “blue chip” cryptocurrency borrowing and lending platforms. Founder and CEO Alex Mashinsky designed Celsius as a means to democratize the lending landscape, and the app allows users to earn interest on their deposited cryptocurrency, or borrow money by placing their crypto as collateral. 

Voyager Invest started as a cryptocurrency exchange, and Voyager Invest Ltd. is actually a publicly traded company, which is a rarity among cryptocurrency interest accounts. The platform also allows users to earn interest on their digital assets. It stands out among exchanges for its use of a hidden-spread trading model instead of charging users flat-rate fees for transactions, which usually makes it cheaper to buy crypto.

The following Celsius vs. Voyager review goes through the nitty-gritty of each unique business model, the pros and cons of each option, and how Celsius and Voyager compare to one another.

By the end of this guide, you should be able to make a more educated decision on getting started with either platform or just dipping your toes into the cryptocurrency interest account space

Celsius vs Voyager: Key Information

Company Bios: Celsius vs. Voyager

Alex Mashinsky and Daniel Leon created Celsius in 2017. The company raised approximately $100 million through private funding rounds. 

Today, Celsius manages about $16 billion in community assets and has around 850,000 users.

Voyager was also launched in 2017. It was founded by Gaspard de Dreuzy, Oscar Salazar, Philip Eytan, Serge Kreiker, and Stephen Ehrlich. 

The company has raised just over $100 million in private funding.

Voyager is actively traded on the Canadian Stock Exchange. It IPOd under the ticker symbol VYGR on February 11th, 2019. The stock debuted at $0.95 and usually trade just above $3.00.

Feature #1: Interest Rates: Who Has Higher APY, Celsius or Voyager?

Users that store cryptocurrency assets on Celsius and Voyager can earn interest for doing so, but the platforms differ in a few notable ways. 

Rate changes: Celsius changes its interest rates every week and Voyager changes its rates every month. The figures covered in this article may differ from what you see on the app, but just know both platforms tend to change their rates as a reaction to market conditions and the lending landscape. 

Bitcoin:

• Celsius currently offers 6.2% APY for a user’s first BTC and 3.51% for any additional BTC.
• Voyager offers 5.75% APY on all of a customer’s BTC but requires users to maintain a minimum balance of 0.01 BTC to earn any interest.

Ethereum:

• Celsius offers 5.35% APY for a customer’s first 100 ETH and 5.05% for any additional ETH.
• Voyager offers 4.6% APY on ETH and requires a user to maintain a minimum balance of 0.5 ETH to earn interest.

Altcoins

Stablecoins

The winner: Celsius Network. 

Celsius offers better APY for digital assets than Voyager by about 1% to 2%, although Voyager does win with Polkadot, offering a whopping 12% APY on the token.

You can snag a $50 BTC bonus when depositing $400 or more on Celsius for 30 days, and a $25 bonus when trading $100+ on Voyager.

How Do Celsius and Voyager Make Money?

Celsius makes money by lending out the assets that it holds for a greater interest rate than what it pays out to users. For example, it might lend out Bitcoin at a rate of 9%, but it pays users a rate of 6.2%.

There are some risks inherent to this revenue-generating activity. But Celsius claims to over-collateralize its loans, which makes defaults relatively unlikely.

Voyager generates profit with a hidden spread that it employs when users trade crypto on the platform. The company’s CEO claims Voyager can use its hidden-spread system without impacting its customers’ profitability.

However, real-world results indicate this isn’t exactly true. A wide range of Redditors and reviewers report that Voyager’s hidden-spread system does cost them money.

For example, it might quote someone a price of $32,000 for 1 BTC. If the user makes the purchase, Voyager may actually only end up paying $31,975 for the BTC. The company would make $25 on the transaction.

The downside with this approach is that users who buy cryptocurrency through Voyager lose money instantly on any investment they make if it uses a hidden spread.

For example, if Voyager’s hidden spread is 0.5%, that means they’re essentially charging you 0.5% more than the market value for your purchase. If you tried to instantly sell the coin, you would be down 0.5% on the investment.

Feature #2: Payouts and Withdrawals

Celsius pays users the interest they earn every Monday. The company also lets users withdraw their funds whenever they want without extra fees. Users who want to withdraw more than $50,000 in a 24-hour period will just need to wait 24-48 hours for their transaction to process.

Voyager only pays out interest monthly. However, the company doesn’t have any lockups or limits. However, it’s worth noting that Voyager currently does not allow users to withdraw cryptocurrency assets– they must sell them for USD. This can incur a potential tax liability, so be aware. 

So, if you want to transfer crypto from Voyager to Celsius, hypothetically, you would need to sell it for USD, move that USD to an exchange that allows for the external withdrawal of crypto assets, buy the BTC, and then send it– which is a lot of work. 

The winner: Celsius. Weekly interest beats monthly interest, and it allows you to send and receive cryptocurrency assets.  

Feature #3: Celsus vs. Voyager Security

Celsius uses a system called multiparty computation (MPC) to secure its users’ funds. This is average for the cryptocurrency interest account industry.

The Celsius Network also includes a host of user-facing security features, including:

• 2-factor authentication
• PINs
• Photo and video security
• Biometric security options
• Email and manual verifications for withdrawals

Voyager isn’t as clear about its security practices. The company has FDIC insurance for up to $250,000 of its users’ USD funds. But, like every other cryptocurrency interest account provider, it doesn’t offer insurance for cryptocurrency assets. The company offers 2-factor authentication but it doesn’t advertise any additional security features for its users.

The winner: Celsius. It has a broader suite of security options for cryptocurrency assets than Voyager. 

Feature #4: Ease of Use

One distinct point of a Celsius vs. Voyager comparison is that both are incredibly intuitive mobile apps. Both started as apps and honed in on simplifying the user experience. Both companies emphasize the power of mobile investing heavily and have built their platforms accordingly. 

Celsius also has a web app for users who prefer to use a computer to access their accounts while Voyager does not.

Beginners will find both Celsius and Voyager easy enough to use. 

Both companies allow debit, credit, and bank transfer deposits, which makes it easy for a new cryptocurrency investor to start buying assets immediately.

The winner: tie. Although their mutual UI/UX teams may grit their teeth at this, both Celsius and Voyager offer comparable mobile experiences. 

Celsius vs. Voyager: Standout Features

Celsius’ standout feature is the company’s native cryptocurrency asset, CEL. Users who choose to borrow and make payments with CEL can receive up to a 25% discount on interest. 

International users also have the option of accepting interest payments in CEL instead of the assets they deposit, often enabling them to earn a higher interest rate.

Voyager also has a native token, VGX. The company offers “interest boosts”, which provide an additional 1% APR on certain coins, which change throughout the year. Users must hold at least 2,500 VGX to qualify.

Additionally, Voyager’s promise of no-fee trading is often viewed as a standout feature. But the company’s hidden spread system typically negates any savings that a user might receive from not having to pay flat-rate fees for trades.

The Court of Public Opinion: Celsius Network vs. Voyager Reddit

Reddit doesn’t appear to have any favorites when it comes to Celsius and Voyager. Most users view the two platforms as fairly equal from a competitive standpoint.

Many Redditors suggest keeping up with the changing rates offered by Celsius and Voyager and moving assets to whichever platform offers the most interest in a given time frame.

That being said, Voyager is primarily designed to be a cryptocurrency exchange while Celsius was designed as an interest account. 

Celsius Network vs. Voyager Customer Support

Customers can get in touch with Celsius by either filling out an online contact form or calling 201-824-2888. The company claims to offer 24/7 customer support but doesn’t say which contact method to use for it.

Voyager’s customer support is a bit bare-bones. The cryptocurrency platform has an online contact form for its customers to fill out but doesn’t offer any additional contact methods.

Can You Trust Celsius Network and Voyager?

Celsius is regarded as a very trustworthy cryptocurrency interest account platform. It has more than 850,000 users and manages nearly $16 billion in crypto assets. A third-party marketing server that Celsius uses was breached in 2021. But users’ funds were never at risk as long as they didn’t fall victim to phishing emails.

Voyager suffered a DNS attack in 2021 as well, but its users’ funds weren’t threatened. The company has been around since 2017 and is publicly traded. 

Celsius Network vs. Voyager: Which is the Better Crypto Interest Account?

Voyager offers a sleek mobile app for buying and selling cryptocurrency assets, but it doesn’t allow for the withdrawal of said assets. Its cryptocurrency interest account feature is above-average for the industry. 

Our Celsius vs Voyager analysis has determined that Celsius Network is the better cryptocurrency interest account for a few reasons: 

1. It offers higher APY on virtually every asset, besides Polkadot. 
2. Celsius is a born, bred, and bona fide cryptocurrency interest account and has a reputation as such as good as or better than any of its competitors. 
3. Celsius offers an exchange feature. 

However, both platforms aren’t mutually exclusive to one another. 

Some users prefer to buy and sell cryptocurrency on Voyager because it has a simpler fiat-to-crypto on-ramp. Voyager is better compared to a Robinhood of sorts, in this manner. 

Other users prefer to store their cryptocurrency on Celsius as a longer-term means to earn interest. 

CoinCentral readers can get a $50 BTC bonus when depositing $400 or more on Celsius for 30 days, and a $25 bonus trading $100+ on Voyager.

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