One of the latest trends in the Bitcoin and the greater cryptocurrency community has been the emergence of lending services. More and more platforms are being built that allows users to borrow, lend and earn interest on their cryptocurrency.
Over the past couple of years, it has become much easier for cryptocurrency users to earn a return on their holdings, as several new crypto lending platforms have popped up. You can think of these services like savings accounts for your crypto, albeit with very impressive interest rates compared to traditional banks!
We review all the best Bitcoin lending sites and list them on this page.
Best Bitcoin Lending Platforms
1. BlockFi
2. Nexo
3. Midas Investment
4. YouHodler
5. Voyager
BlockFi
1. Earn interest on your cryptocurrency
2. Not required to lock up crypto for a set period
3. Reliable and safe platform based in the USA
4. Particularly good earn rates for Bitcoin and ETH
5. Offers an exclusive Visa card with Bitcoin rewards
6. MINIMUM LOAN AMOUNT $5,000
7. MAX INTEREST AVAILABLE 7.25%
Read Full Review Here
Nexo
1. Easy to use, simple crypto lending platform
2. Fully insured, licensed & regulated
3. Allows customers to borrow in 45+ different currencies
4. Nexo Debit Card works using Mastercard technology
5. MINIMUM LOAN AMOUNT $500
6. MAX INTEREST AVAILABLE 8%
Midas Investment
1. Earn high-interest rates on individual assets with daily rewards
2. Multi-asset portfolios with high yields
3. Swap assets directly on the platform
MINIMUM LOAN AMOUNT None
MAX INTEREST AVAILABLE 28% (rates subject to change)
YouHodler
1. Built-in Exchange
2. Up to 90% Loan-to-value ratio
3. Low loan minimum
4. Good variety of investment options
5. Mobile App for iOs and Android
6. MINIMUM LOAN AMOUNT $100
7. MAXIMUM LOAN AMOUNT No maximum loan amount
Voyager
1. Mobile-only platform that offers to lend, earn, and an exchange
2. Earn up to 10% on stablecoins or 7.25% on Bitcoin
3. Publicly-traded company under the ticker VGX in Canada
4. Proprietary VGX tokens offer higher interest rates
5. MINIMUM LOAN AMOUNT $100
6. MAX INTEREST AVAILABLE 10% (rates subject to change)
Read Full Review Here
What are Crypto Lending Platforms?
Cryptocurrency lending platforms operate essentially as brokers between lenders, and borrowers. The general idea is that lenders can use these platforms to earn interest on their idle crypto assets, and borrowers can take out a loan. Whether a user has Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, or some other crypto asset, they are now able to earn interest on those holdings in return for lending them out to other users. The best Bitcoin lending sites offer considerable potential for return on investment.
With the emergency of decentralized finance (DeFi), it is possible to lend out cryptocurrency to someone else in an extremely low-trust manner.
What Services Do Crypto Lending Platforms Offer?
Crypto lending platforms allow users to either lend their cryptocurrency holdings or lend from others. Additionally, these platforms often offer users the ability to borrow fiat currency against their cryptocurrency holdings. In these situations, the user hands custody of their Bitcoin or other crypto assets over to the platform, and the cryptocurrency is held as collateral for a loan denominated in U.S. dollars or the local fiat currency. If the user defaults on the loan, the crypto lending platform can seize the cryptocurrency collateral instead.
It should be noted that a variety of other services unrelated to lending are also usually offered by these platforms. For example, some crypto lending platforms often operate as crypto exchanges.
Why Would I Want to Borrow Cryptocurrency?
There are a few different reasons why someone would want to borrow cryptocurrency. Let’s take a look at the two main use cases.
For one, if you’re bullish on the long-term price of a particular cryptocurrency, then you don’t want to sell your crypto assets holdings at any point shortly. However, you also may need cash on hand to pay for your daily expenditures, such as rent and groceries. One way to access cash for your daily spending habits without losing the potential upside that comes with exposure to the Bitcoin price is to borrow U.S. dollars or your local fiat currency with your crypto holdings as collateral for the loan. Some cryptocurrency miners take this route, as it allows them to pay their electricity bills and other costs of doing business without selling their crypto holdings.
Another reason someone may decide to borrow some cryptocurrency has to do with trading (like we mention in our HaasBot review). If you want to short a particular cryptocurrency, then you need to borrow that cryptocurrency from someone else. In simple terms, shorting an asset is placing a bet that the price of that particular asset will decline in value. When you short something, you borrow the asset from a lender and then immediately sell it on the open market. The basic idea is that, once it is time to pay back the loan, you will be able to buy back the asset at a lower price and keep the price difference as a profit.
Can I Lend Crypto as Well? Do I Get Interested?
Yes, multiple different platforms will allow you to lend crypto to others. You can gain interest on these holdings and even automatically reinvest that interest into the same lending program. These platforms essentially are giving you the ability to compound your investment.
Are Interest Rates Good on Crypto?
The interest rates offered on crypto lending platforms are amazingly good compared to “high yield” savings accounts at traditional banks.
It’s possible to get up to 18% interest in some cases, which is astounding compared to interest rates in traditional brick and mortar banks. Consider that the average savings account in the USA currently offers a minuscule 0.03% annual interest rate. You might as well store your cash in a shoebox at that rate. Using conservative estimates you’ll find that crypto lending interest rates beat traditional banks by 50X, 100X, or more.
It’s worth noting that there are a variety of factors that affect your interest rate. Things like:
1. How much crypto you’re willing to “stake” on the site
2. How long you’re willing to lock up (one month, three months, six months, etc.)
3. How much of their native cryptocurrency do you hold (CEL, NEXO, CRO, etc.)
Are Crypto Lending Platforms Legit?
Much like any other part of the crypto industry, some scams operate in the crypto lending space. Promises of high returns on people’s Bitcoin holdings were one of the scams that happened quite frequently on the Bitcointalk.org forums in the early days.
That said, the crypto lending industry has come a long way since the Wild West days of early Bitcoin companies. There are now reputable crypto lending platforms available that are completely above-board and regulated in ways similar to traditional financial institutions. The best way to avoid getting scammed by a crypto lending platform is to avoid shady, anonymous entities that are offering returns that are too good to be true.
The biggest names in crypto lending have excellent reputations and a remarkable track record for security over the years. Still, it’s always suggested that you never risk more than you can lose.
How Do Crypto Lending Platforms Make Money?
Crypto lending programs have a variety of different ways to make money, but the reality is that these companies aren’t much different from traditional banks.
Effectively, a crypto lending platform takes users’ money and puts it to work on various investment strategies. The crypto lending platform then takes a profit via the spread between what they’re taking from one group of users and lending to another group of users.
Fortunately, reputable crypto lending companies use over-collateralization to make sure they can always pay customers back immediately. If all else fails, these companies also operate with a balance sheet so they can reimburse customers in the event of a black swan event.
Can I Use a Wallet with Crypto Lending Platforms?
Whether you can use your cryptocurrency wallet and keep control over your cryptocurrency while using a crypto lending platform will depend on the nature of that lending platform. There are both centralized and decentralized ways in which users can interact with cryptocurrency lending platforms. Specifically, staking has become a way in which users can earn a return on their cryptocurrency holdings without taking on much risk.
Staking exists in a variety of different forms today. For example, proof-of-stake networks like Tezos allow users to earn interest for performing tasks similar to that of proof-of-work miners in Bitcoin. Additionally, processing transactions on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network or offering liquidity to something like JoinMarket could be viewed as a form of staking.
While staking is meant to be done by an individual user, services like Coinbase also stake coins on their users’ behalf.
Do Crypto Lending Platforms Have Exchanges?
Many crypto lending platforms also operate as cryptocurrency exchanges. The two businesses complement each other well as exchanges offer easy onboarding for new crypto users.
Can I buy Bitcoin on a Crypto Lending Site?
Whether you can buy Bitcoin on a crypto lending site will depend on the particular platform in question; however, many borrowing and lending platforms have close relationships with exchanges. Bitcoin is still by far the world’s most popular and liquid cryptocurrency, so if you can buy crypto via a crypto lending platform, Bitcoin is likely to be one of the first available options.
What Are the Most Popular Cryptocurrency Lending Platforms?
The cryptocurrency lending platform is one of the fastest-growing segments of the entire crypto industry and there are quickly becoming a large number of options to choose from. It’s important to make sure that you’re signing up with a reliable lending platform because you’re entrusting them with your cryptocurrency.