We aren’t going to beat around the bush here when talking about crypto. It has exploded in the past few months and it is continuing to do so with no signs of slowing down. With cryptocurrency blowing up, there are a lot more services being offered for your crypto wallet as well.
One of the more recent services that has been growing are crypto interest accounts. What are they? Think of them as a combination between your bank account and a crypto exchange.
They are not fully made for trading and exchanging, but you do have the option of moving a few coins around.
What’s The Difference?
The big difference between a crypto exchange and a website that offers crypto interest accounts is that crypto interest accounts are meant for large amounts of trading.
Don’t get us wrong, you can definitely move some coins around on these websites that offer accounts, however that is not their speciality.
If you are looking to day trade or trade frequently, you are going to want to use an exchange that has a ton of different coin options for you to choose from and can allow for a lot of flexibility with how you go about conducting your trades.
Exchange sites are created solely for moving your crypto around, there is no benefit to leaving it on the website.
With crypto interest accounts however, you are paid interest via crypto or fiat money for simply leaving your assets in that account. This makes it the perfect choice for someone who is looking to hold their crypto for an extended period of time.
How does interest work? On crypto interest service websites, they operate by issuing crypto loans to other users. By depositing your crypto onto one of these websites, you allow the website to lend it to other users.
This is done risk free and your crypto will be returned to you by the website along with interest for loaning it out. It is a great way to add some extra funds into your account without having to do anything at all.
This is not to say that crypto interest account services don’t offer any trading at all. You can still deposit and exchange certain cryptocurrencies on these websites, however the main intention is to hold your assets and let them build interest.
Today, we are going to be looking at some of these crypto interest account services and looking at the pros and cons of each one.
By the end, hopefully you will have a good understanding of crypto interest accounts and make a decision about which one you want to use.
BlockFi
BlockFi is one of the most well known websites when it comes to talking about crypto interest accounts.
One of the big benefits to using BlockFi is that there are no account minimums, meaning you can start building interest no matter how much crypto you have.
Stable coins on BlockFi can earn about 8.6% interest while things like Bitcoin will fluctuate between 0.5% - 6% depending on how much you have. Are there any downsides to using BlockFi?
Unfortunately when it comes to using something like Bitcoin, the more you have deposited on the website, the lower your interest rate will be.
That being said, you have to be a big time player to take a major hit on interest. If you are holding less than 1 Bitcoin, you are going to have a solid interest rate at 6%.
As soon as you have more than 1 Bitcoin however, the interest is going to drop to around 2.0% and it will take another hit when you deposit 20 Bitcoin and drop right down to 0.5%.
In most cases you don’t have to worry about this because most people do not have that much Bitcoin.
An interesting thing BlockFi offers is crypto-backed loans. If you need to make a payment for your home or pay off your credit card, you can take a loan from the website to help pay things off.
You use your crypto as collateral in this case and generally you can receive a loan of about 50% the value of your assets. This allows you to get the cash that you need in the moment, without needing to sell off your crypto.
The final thing we want to talk about with BlockFi is the withdrawal rate. On some exchanges you are going to be charged a fee whenever you are moving crypto out of the website. With BlockFi, you are given one free withdrawal every month, so use it wisely.
Nexo
Nexo is another large crypto interest account based service that offers quite impressive interest for your assets.
Just like with BlockFi, you are going to deposit your money onto the website and let it sit to build interest.
With Nexo, what we loved was how easy it was to use. Everything from signing up on the website to using it was straightforward.
What it does well in ease of use however, it lacks in education.
With other crypto services, we noticed that there were a lot of resources a person could access to learn more about the market itself and how it works. While Nexo does offer some of this, it isn’t the best by any means.
The big thing to look at with any of these accounts however is the interest rate. Offering interest on 11 different altcoins and 6 stable coins, they support plenty of different cryptos.
Similar to BlockFi, you are going to be getting an interest rate starting at 6% for crypto like Bitcoin, a resounding 10% on stable coins, and a whopping 12% on Nexo’s own token.
While we love that 12% that comes with Nexo token, what we don’t like is the fact we have to convert our crypto to it to take advantage of it.
All that being said, the lack of fees in the website makes it a great one if you are looking to move your crypto around several times each month.
They also offer a great interest rate on USD and EUR as well if you are interested in using them as a conventional bank as well.
Gemini
When it comes to account security, Gemini is one of, if not the leading crypto interest service.
They are always looking to innovate when it comes to security and were the first exchange to become SOC compliant.
Security is a big deal in the cryptomarket as people have had their wallets hacked and their assets purged as a result.
Gemini itself is a crypto exchange, but they have launched Gemini Earn which is their crypto interest account.
The interest rates aren’t the best with a person earning up to 7.4% on various tokens and 3.05% on Bitcoin.
That being said, you aren’t choosing Gemini for the interest rates, you are choosing them for the safety and security.
Using the website is fairly easy and the mobile app was quite nice to use as well. As we mentioned, Gemini is a crypto exchange first, therefore you can execute whatever trades you want on the website and then deposit them into your Gemini Earn account.
In most cases when moving from an exchange to an interest account, you are going to have some sort of transaction fee. Because these are all within the same site, the fee is either going to be minimal or non-existent.
We also want to note that just like with Nexo, Gemini uses their own token as well called Gemini dollar and you can access higher interest rates if you are willing to convert your crypto over.
Binance
Binance is one of the largest crypto exchanges out there and they decided to open up their own savings accounts to give people options for their assets.
While we love Binance for their exchange, we can’t say the same for their savings accounts.
They aren’t bad by any means, but when comparing them to others across the board, there is just a lot to be desired.
Binance hosts one of the largest selections in coins on the market, meaning it also offers a lot of different coins for you to collect interest on.
It is also quite fast when it comes to moving your crypto around and very user friendly.
The downsides however is that the rates are definitely not as high as we would like them to be. If you do deposit something like USDC onto your savings account as well, you will have it locked up for about 90 days. If you plan on using this account, you are forgoing the ability to trade.
The final thing we have to talk about here is insurance. With a lot of the other mentioned platforms, you are given some form of insurance in the case your account or website has been hacked.
With binance, there is no insurance policy for this. While the odds of this happening are extremely slim, it is still nice to know that a website has your back.
Crypto.com
While we did like what Crypto.com had to offer, we weren’t happy with how they went about advertising it.
Crypto.com does have some nice interest rates, however they have very specific conditions in order to achieve them.
If you do want to achieve the maximum amount of interest possible on the website, you guessed it, you are going to have to convert your money and cryptocurrency over to their backed coin.
That being said, if you do convert to CRO, you are looking at an interest rate of up to 18%.
While a website like BlockFI begins lowering their interest rates the more you deposit onto the website, Crypto.com increases it.
Therefore, if you want to get the most out of this website and your savings account, you are going to want to have large amounts of money on the website. If you plan on working in small amounts, you are better off using another service.
Overall, if you are looking to work with large amounts and are okay with converting to CRO, you can definitely build a nice nest egg with this account. There are some fees and costs behind Crypto.com but that is standard for most exchanges.
YouHodler
While we love the name of the website, what we don’t love about YouHodler is it’s availability.
Currently, YouHodler is not available in the United States, therefore a good chunk of you reading this won’t be able to take advantage of their services.
YouHodler has taken “hodling” and turned it into a way to make even more money.
They do offer a great amount of security and protection for their website to those who can use it and the accounts are high interest.
What we found ironic is that the company requires a minimum deposit of 100 USD when adding money to it.
We are hoping that YouHodler will start to come to the United States so more people can take advantage of it. Overall, from what we experienced it was a fairly normal crypto interest account site. There was nothing amazing about it, but at the same time, there were no glaring issues with it either, making it a well-rounded website for those looking to earn interest.
Hodlnaut
Hodlnaut is another website that has emerged recently and provides a very slick user interface with plenty of functionality.
They also tout the possibility of earning upwards of 8.2 to 10.5% APY in interest.
This depends on what you're investing. Stablecoins like USDC and USDT can earn that, but even BTC and ETH are 6%+.
Their service is pretty straightforward considering they offer only 5 assets, but that can be a great thing for newbie crypto investors that want to hold their coins and earn interest.
Providing such a simple to use service is certainly attractive because it cuts out all of the fluff while still offering good interest rates and loan options, but it's not going to blow you away with advanced features which may put you off if you're looking for more.
If you are okay with something that is a little simpler, then you should definitely take a look into Hodlnaut.
CEX.io
The final platform we are going to be talking about is CEX.io.
They have been of the longest active crypto exchanges and have been offering plenty of different coins to trade for several years.
They also recently decided to get into the crypto loan and interest game. They don’t offer anything new or crazy when it comes to interest, but their strengths lie in them as an exchange.
If you get yourself verified, you are able to trade without any limits. This can allow you to take advantage of everything the exchange has to offer, and then deposit it all into an interest account on the website.
This gives you plenty of opportunities to grow your portfolio without having to shuffle your assets around.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it is important to understand the difference between a standard crypto account and a crypto interest account. In a standard account, your crypto is just going to sit there and only move with the market.
In an interest account, not only is it going to be moving with the market itself, but you are also going to slowly be collecting interest.
A lot of people refuse to let their money sit in a checking account as it is doing absolutely nothing for them. Why would you do the same for crypto, especially if you are holding stable coins that are tied to USD.
You should always be looking for ways to grow your wealth and increase your portfolio. It might not seem like much, but any amount can help, especially in the long run.
With all that being said, we do have to recommend BlockFi if you are planning on getting in on the interest game. They might not have the best rates out there, but their ease of use along with their reputable services make them a great choice for investors.
Because they offer higher interest rates for lower investments as well, it is great for those who are just starting to get involved in the market.
If you’re still not convinced, do a little bit of research on your end and see what aligns with your financial goals.
