Purchase Celsius (CEL) with Indian Rupee (INR) easily at Switchere and benefit from fast, secure transactions.
Celsius Network, with its native CEL token, emerged as a major centralized finance (CeFi) platform designed to bridge the gap between traditional banking and the world of digital assets. Its primary function was to offer users the ability to earn yield on their cryptocurrency holdings and to take out crypto-collateralized loans. The platform operated on a custodial basis, managing user funds to generate interest income through lending activities to institutional borrowers. This model positioned it as a user-friendly alternative for crypto holders seeking to put their assets to work without navigating complex DeFi protocols.
The CEL token was the core of its loyalty and rewards system. As a utility token, holding and using CEL provided tangible benefits within the Celsius ecosystem, such as preferential interest rates for both earning and borrowing. Users could receive higher yields on their deposited assets and lower rates on loans, with rewards often distributed weekly in the form of CEL. This tokenomics structure was designed to incentivize user loyalty and drive demand for the native asset. However, the platform faced significant operational challenges and market pressures, which ultimately led to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, profoundly impacting its users and reshaping the narrative around risk in the CeFi lending industry.
Historically, acquiring CEL with INR was typically done through Indian cryptocurrency exchanges that listed the token or via peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms. Users would complete KYC/AML compliance, then use a fiat on-ramp to deposit INR via methods like UPI, IMPS, or NEFT bank transfers. Following the Celsius Network's bankruptcy, direct INR/CEL trading pairs became extremely rare and are considered high-risk due to delistings and low liquidity.
Trading INR/CEL post-bankruptcy carries extreme risk. Key concerns include: severe lack of liquidity, making it difficult to execute trades without significant price slippage; high price volatility driven by speculation rather than fundamentals; the risk of remaining exchanges delisting the token entirely; and the loss of the token's original utility due to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. There is a substantial risk of total capital loss when engaging with this digital asset.
Finding a direct fiat off-ramp to convert CEL to INR is now exceptionally difficult. Most reputable Indian and international exchanges have delisted CEL/INR or CEL/USDT pairs. An investor's only potential path would be to find a niche exchange that still supports CEL trading, sell it for a more liquid cryptocurrency like BTC or a stablecoin, and then use that asset on an Indian exchange to convert to INR. This multi-step process involves high transaction risk, slippage, and fees.
The CEL token was a utility token designed to provide benefits to users of the Celsius crypto lending platform. Its primary functions included enabling users to earn higher yield rates on their deposited digital assets, receive discounts on loan interest payments, and make fee-free payments via the CelPay service. Holding CEL was incentivized to access these preferential terms, effectively making it a loyalty token for the platform.
For Indian users, the most common fiat on-ramp methods to deposit INR on exchanges for purchasing digital assets like CEL included the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which offered instant transfers. Other prevalent methods were a direct bank transfer using IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) or NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer). Some P2P marketplaces also facilitated these payment methods for direct user-to-user transactions.
Low liquidity in the INR/CEL order book signifies a lack of active buyers and sellers. This results in a sparse order book with large gaps (spreads) between the highest bid price and the lowest ask price. Consequently, even small trade orders can cause significant price volatility (slippage), and it may be impossible to fill larger orders without drastically impacting the market price. It's a key indicator of a high-risk, illiquid market.