Small investors who had put their savings in their account with the firm Celsius Network, in which the Caisse de dépôt has invested $ 200 million for its “solid management” and its “transparency”, find themselves in the water.

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“There were big interests. When I saw the rewards every Monday, in the account, I added more,” an investor in his mid-twenties, who had deposited $22,000 last year, said yesterday on condition of anonymity.

little hope

In the Journal, he says he was attracted by the juicy interest rates which sometimes flirted with 18.6%, which has nothing to do with the starving rates of traditional banks.

Today, he is down to just $11,000, given the fall in crypto prices, and he is far from sure he will be able to see the color of his half-melted money again.

"I don't have much hope," sighs the man who has not had access to his account since mid-June, like more than 1.7 million Celsius customers.

“Solid”, said the Caisse

Yesterday, investors told the Journal that they were surprised by the collapse of the CDPQ partner.

Last year, his first v.-p. and Chief Technology Officer, Alexandre Synnett, said in a statement that Celsius had "a strong management team that places transparency and customer protection at the heart of its business."

Today, the “cryptobank”, under the protection of bankruptcy law, is accused of having orchestrated “a Ponzi scheme” in the United States.

Reached by Le Journal, the Autorité des marchés financiers said it was already "in communication with Celsius regarding its business model and the nature of its activities in Quebec and Canada in order to verify their compliance with the regulations. in securities”.

"No complaint has been submitted to the Authority concerning Celsius", concluded its spokesperson Jean - Maurice Bouchard.