[List] Bitcoin Savings Accounts Providing Interest

[Garmo]

Earning passive income, particularly through Bitcoin, is something I've gotten interested in these past couple of weeks. I tried looking for relevant topics around the forum, but they seem to be scattered at large.

As any investor worth their salt would tell you, passive income is the single most important area of finances that will ultimately build your wealth reliably. Warren Buffett, the most important investor of our era, endorses passive income, and hails it as the best tool for the common man to keep themselves afloat in such a turbulent economy. With the advent of Bitcoin later came the huge (realistic) potential to make money faster than the bank would ever offer you.

Unlike investing your inflation-prone dollars in a <%1 APR bank investment, Bitcoin, and crypto in general, enjoys both very high APRs, as well as being a generally appreciative asset over the years. This is indeed thanks to its deflationary method of rolling out fresh units into the economy, as well as being decentralized. Before you is a list of services and websites providing solid APY rates, with all the relevant information as well.

It is erroneous to think that all savings account services utilize the same business model. The most popular of which is the lending out of whatever you deposit into their savings products, and making a profit upon the maturity of that loan's interest, such that the business owner receives the original amount + interest, the interest of which is split between you and the owner. Casinos, such as Cointiply and FreeBitco.in, make use of a different model, which is dividing the BTC balance into two different parts: To bankroll the various casino games, and to cover the user withdrawals. Unlike the former model, this model is unique in that the profits the casinos make, so long as users continue playing in that casino, are practically guaranteed by the house edge. Based on this conclusion, an inference can be made that the interest rate will likely remain stationary in the scale of years, whereas the former model fluctuates depending on the loan interests.

Regarding the safety of your BTC, the sentiment of "Not your keys, not your coins" rings ever true. When it comes to deciding which service to entrust my coins to, the two ultimate factor to take into consideration is that website's security track record, and time in the market. Many of the mentioned website have been in the game for several years now, with (AFAIK) good records of security.

_______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________

|       Name         |   APY (%)  |   Compounding period    |   Min. Deposit   |    Min. Withdrawal   | Lock-in?** | Altcoins? |

|  BlockFi.com       |     4.90   |         Daily           |      None        |        0.003         |    No      |    Ξ, Ł   |
|  Nexo.io           |     8.00   |         Daily           |      0.001       |        0.001         |    No      |    Many   |
|  FreeBitco.in      |     4.08   |         Daily           |      0.0003      |        0.0003        |    No      |    None   |
|  Cointiply.com     |     5.00   |         Weekly          |      None        |        $5*           |    No      |    Ɖ      |
|  Binance.com       |     1.21   |         Weekly          |      None        |        0.0001        |    Yes     |    Many   |
|  Gemini.com        |     3.05   |         Daily           |      None        |        0.0001        |    No      |    Many   |
|  Celsius.network   |     4.73   |         Daily           |      None        |        None          |    No      |    Ξ, ₮   |
|  Crypto.com        |     N/A    |         Daily           |      0.005       |        0.003         |    No      |    Many   |
|  getLinus.io       |     4.50   |         Daily           |      None        |        N/A           |    No      |    None   |
|  YouHodler.com     |     4.80   |         Monthly         |      0.1         |        $50*          |    Yes     | Ξ, ₮, LINK|
|  Coinloan.io       |     4.40   |         Daily           |      None        |        N/A           |    No      |    Many   |
|  Ledn.io           |     6.25   |         Daily           |      None        |        None          |    No      |    USDC   |

*Bitcoin equivalent.
** If the answer is NO, it means that you are able to withdraw your balance freely without having to wait.
_______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________

Overall, the only services I can vouch for in this list are Nexo.io, Cointiply, Binance and, as you may have guessed from my signature, FreeBitco.in. They've paid me consistently with smooth transactions and services round-about.

If there is an error, or would like me to add more information, kindly let me know. Thank you!

[1714058839]

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[PrimeNumber7]

The problem with all of these services is that you are giving up control of your private keys, so you are trusting the service not to run away with your coin, or let a hacker run away with your coin. If you are receiving interest for your deposit, the service is also obviously lending out your coin to other customers, which means you are also risking that borrowers will not repay the service in large enough quantities that the service cannot repay you.

[LTU_btc]

Great job, thanks for making this table. Maybe these 4%-5% APY rates isn't something amazing, especially considering how much crypto went up this year. But it's still much better rates than most banks are paying.
To get more significant interest, you have to hold a lot of money on that website. So, you have to trust your money to third party. And no matter how trusted website is, it's still risky.
About Freebitco.in, you need to have at least 0.0003 BTC in order to get interest.

[magneto]

And in almost all cases, the excess counterparty risks that you incur from using one of these services will not be worth it.

This is even more concerning when considering the fact that a bunch of the sites on here (Cointiply, freebitco.in, etc.) are actually faucets that are completely unregulated as investment vehicles.

Even if they have paid out consistently in the past doesn't mean that they will continue to do so in the future. They could well be running very highly leveraged fractional-reserve schemes for all that we know.

There is nothing wrong with the table itself - it is very informative. But people should understand the caveats.

[LeGaulois]

The problem with all of these services is that you are giving up control of your private keys, so you are trusting the service not to run away with your coin, or let a hacker run away with your coin. If you are receiving interest for your deposit, the service is also obviously lending out your coin to other customers, which means you are also risking that borrowers will not repay the service in large enough quantities that the service cannot repay you.

It's the same with the banks when we receive our salary on a deposit account. We are giving up the control to them. Yet we still use these banks. Something bad could happen like a hacker infecting your app successfully, the bank goes bankrupt, etc.
The problem is the same when people store their coins in centralized exchanges, despite all the warnings not to do it. As you can see people don't care
They provide a service, of course, we have to trust them a bit, the same way we have to trust the banks if we want to use their services

As for the risk of the borrower not repaying the loan, I don't all of them but some have a collateral system so if the person decides to not repay or if the value of the collateral decrease too much compared to the loan, the lender is secured because the collateral is liquidated.

[PrimeNumber7]

The problem with all of these services is that you are giving up control of your private keys, so you are trusting the service not to run away with your coin, or let a hacker run away with your coin. If you are receiving interest for your deposit, the service is also obviously lending out your coin to other customers, which means you are also risking that borrowers will not repay the service in large enough quantities that the service cannot repay you.

It's the same with the banks when we receive our salary on a deposit account. We are giving up the control to them. Yet we still use these banks. Something bad could happen like a hacker infecting your app successfully, the bank goes bankrupt, etc.

Banks are highly regulated, while it is the Wild West when it comes to the above companies accepting crypto deposits. In the US, bank deposits are also insured against loss due to the bank being unable to pay their deposit holders up to certain amounts, and this is not true for the above companies.

[SFR10]

If there is an error, or would like me to add more information, kindly let me know. Thank you!

Personally, I'm not a big fan of such platforms ^{[due to obvious reasons]} but you should include the "domain extensions" for those you've missed ^{[7 out of 11]} in the list...
^{- A lot of newbies out there, tend to just click the first few google results when there's no domain extension [most of the time, they'll be visiting a similar-looking fake platform instead].}

[Bitum]

Very good compilation, maybe someone has a source where I can see something similar for other coins. Thanks in advance

[LeGaulois]

Banks are highly regulated, while it is the Wild West when it comes to the above companies accepting crypto deposits. In the US, bank deposits are also insured against loss due to the bank being unable to pay their deposit holders up to certain amounts, and this is not true for the above companies.

Do you think a bank might have enough to refund all the customers if something bad happens? Nah, the "insured funds" is what I call a marketing trick to make people believe they're safe while in fact, they're not totally.

Also, I don't know how it works in the U.S. in such a case but if it's like in my country, the funds are insured by the government not the bank.
So imagine a bank going bankrupt, it's the government that will inject some money to make this insurance works. And from where will this money come? Taxes or borrowed money from banks.

I see your point and it's surely available for most of the websites listed but there are exceptions like Nexo.io or Bitwala. The company is licensed and regulated and manages 4 or 5 billion in assets, so I would say it's not a 'wannabe lending platform like freebitco.in. Bitwala has a banking license in Germany.
I have always found it funny to see people using freebitco.in as a saving account. It's like if you have money to invest and instead to visit your banker you visit your baker.

I'm sure we will see more websites like Nexo.io, with licenses and regulations, like IRL. The time of BTCJam is gone long ago

[Garmo]

The problem with all of these services is that you are giving up control of your private keys.

Agreed. In this case, the only reliable indicator of whether to trust a website with your money is the track record they have, which many of the websites in the list above have is practically spotless. Furthermore, most, if not all of them, assure a risk-free return on your balance in spite of lending it out the second it lands in their wallet. As someone else said, they've got collateral in place.

I don't know about you guys, but I myself wouldn't look twice after giving them my BTC.

But it's still much better rates than most traditional banks are paying.

Right? Like, it's almost as if the bank is giving the finger to their customer base as they update their measly interest rates table topping at 0.08%, when you could purchase a stablecoin that could net you 100x that insulting rate. It makes me wonder why people aren't more aware of the potential of cryptocurrencies as a whole.

You should include the "domain extensions" for those you've missed

Very good compilation, maybe someone has a source where I can see something similar for other coins. Thanks in advance

Done and done. Thanks for the input!

[orions.belt19]

What I like about Crypto.com is that they offer a lot of services for their clients! Among these are buying crypto within their app and you can earn interest by staking your crypto (you have 3 term options: Flexible, 1 Month, and 3 Months), plus they also have a debit card that you can load up and spend your crypto with. While Crypto.com has simple interest, blockfi.com on the other hand offers compound interest and the payout is every month. A cool feature they offer is allowing you to choose what currency you want to earn interest in. (For example, stake Bitcoin and earn interest in Ethereum or USDT (stablecoin).

Cool list, OP! This kind of thing is relatively new so there's not much info about it but it seems like this is thing now so you see them booming everywhere along with DeFi.

[zanezane]

The problem with all of these services is that you are giving up control of your private keys, so you are trusting the service not to run away with your coin, or let a hacker run away with your coin. If you are receiving interest for your deposit, the service is also obviously lending out your coin to other customers, which means you are also risking that borrowers will not repay the service in large enough quantities that the service cannot repay you.

Then don't put a lot of your coins in any of them, the risk of the amount lost is mitigated but the benefit is also lowered but in the end, the profits will speak for itself. I don't think that this websites will be vulnerable as back in the Mt. Gox days, security has been a thing and I think that this websites are definitely secure.

[Jawhead999]

-snip-

I don't think that this websites will be vulnerable as back in the Mt. Gox days, security has been a thing and I think that this websites are definitely secure.

It doesn't make sense.
Mt. Gox hacked on 2014, if the security has been developed pretty well and all websites are secure... Why we still saw many exchanges got hacked after 2015? [1]

This means, even the security has been upgraded it doesn't stop hacker to find the vulnerability. As been said, there's no system is 100% secured.

[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5090869.0

[Garmo]

-snip-

~snip~

It doesn't make sense.
Mt. Gox hacked on 2014, if the security has been developed pretty well and all websites are secure... Why we still saw many exchanges got hacked after 2015? [1]

This means, even the security has been upgraded it doesn't stop hacker to find the vulnerability. As been said, there's no system is 100% secured.

[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5090869.0

Those exchanges that got hacked are some of the most podunk, barely remarkable ones that have not exercised proper security measures, such as keeping the bulk of their user funds in cold wallets stowed away

You are right. There is nothing that is %100, but that is such a cheesy, flimsy argument to make when it comes to making a yes/no decision. I could make that same argument anywhere, be it in the financial sector, medical sector, entertainment sector and many more, and where would that leave me in all of the aforementioned sectors if I had to make a decision? I would miss out on those savings investments because "the bank is not %100 safe!" I would miss out on a potentially life-saving treatment because "the procedure is not %100 safe!" I would miss out on a good movie because "I'm %100 not going to enjoy it!"

Ultimately, when it comes to entrusting your funds to a website, the only thing you should base your decision off of is their security track record. And If a certain website does indeed have a spotless record, then what are you afraid of? Work with the inputs you've got, not with the worst assumption you could make of something.

[LTU_btc]

Those exchanges that got hacked are some of the most podunk, barely remarkable ones that have not exercised proper security measures, such as keeping the bulk of their user funds in cold wallets stowed away

So, you want to say that exchanges which got hacked, like Binance, Kucoin, Upbit, Bitfinex or Coincheck were barely remarkable ones?
Though, you have good point about that nothing is 100% sure. But still, I think it's kinda different things and risks when you put 1 BTC into exchange in long term period and decide to watch movie or no.

[Garmo]

Those exchanges that got hacked are some of the most podunk, barely remarkable ones that have not exercised proper security measures, such as keeping the bulk of their user funds in cold wallets stowed away

So, you want to say that exchanges which got hacked, like Binance, Kucoin, Upbit, Bitfinex or Coincheck were barely remarkable ones?
Though, you have good point about that nothing is 100% sure. But still, I think it's kinda different things and risks when you put 1 BTC into exchange in long term period and decide to watch movie or no.

They were certainly still in their growth phase, but not to the level of the already established exchanges at the time. And to be completely transparent, they've had their fair share of hacks before. But now that, for example, Binance has achieved the status of the best, it's practically unthinkable that they will be hacked. If they do end up getting hacked, however, you bet they are going to compensate their users in one way or the other.

The shockwaves of Mt. Gox are behind us. Why haven't you moved on?

[LoyceV]

And in almost all cases, the excess counterparty risks that you incur from using one of these services will not be worth it.

This!
Even though it sounds attractive to gain 4% or more per year on your Bitcoin, the risk is up to 100%!

It's the same with the banks when we receive our salary on a deposit account.

It's not the same: banks (here) have a (government) guarantee to return at least 100,000 euro per account holder in case something happens to your money. If you want to store more money, you can open more accounts at different banks.
I wouldn't trust banks without this.

Do you think a bank might have enough to refund all the customers if something bad happens? Nah, the "insured funds" is what I call a marketing trick to make people believe they're safe while in fact, they're not totally.

The way it works in EU is that first other banks have to pay for the damages, and if that fails they'll get another government bailout. So ultimately the tax payers pay for it.
Note that this is about savings or checking accounts. Brokers are a different story.

In short:

Regarding the safety of your BTC, the sentiment of "Not your keys, not your coins" rings ever true.

I wouldn't risk it

[Beerwizzard]

And in almost all cases, the excess counterparty risks that you incur from using one of these services will not be worth it.

This!
Even though it sounds attractive to gain 4% or more per year on your Bitcoin, the risk is up to 100%!

It's the same with the banks when we receive our salary on a deposit account.

It's not the same: banks (here) have a (government) guarantee to return at least 100,000 euro per account holder in case something happens to your money. If you want to store more money, you can open more accounts at different banks.
I wouldn't trust banks without this.

Completely agree with your post, but tbh the overall situation is getting better. At least now you can choose between reputable companies which have their own reserves or insurances to repay the funds in case of hack. So major services like Binance are absolutely safe unless you expect them to go mad for no reason and freeze your funds (which is still a possible risk).

List itself is good. Would be nice to have another column that shows if that service have a welcome bonus.

[LoyceV]

So major services like Binance are absolutely safe unless you expect them to go mad for no reason and freeze your funds (which is still a possible risk).

Allow me to correct you. Binance is NOT safe. Say you send someone 300,000 Doge ($600) from your Binance account. Then, 19 months later, Binance sends the same transaction again, except for now it's worth $80,000. Next, Binance freezes your account and demands you pay them $80,000.
This is the kind of BS centralized and largely unregulated services can do for basically any reason they come up with.

[PrimeNumber7]

Banks are highly regulated, while it is the Wild West when it comes to the above companies accepting crypto deposits. In the US, bank deposits are also insured against loss due to the bank being unable to pay their deposit holders up to certain amounts, and this is not true for the above companies.

Do you think a bank might have enough to refund all the customers if something bad happens? Nah, the "insured funds" is what I call a marketing trick to make people believe they're safe while in fact, they're not totally.

Also, I don't know how it works in the U.S. in such a case but if it's like in my country, the funds are insured by the government not the bank.
So imagine a bank going bankrupt, it's the government that will inject some money to make this insurance works. And from where will this money come? Taxes or borrowed money from banks.

In the US, banks are insured by the FDIC. The FDIC is funded by the various member banks via insurance premiums paid based on the amount of insured deposits. Although the number of failing banks has been low recently, due to the good economy, banks do fail every year, and those banks' depositholders have been made hold up to FDIC insurance limits. It is not a marketing gimic.

The problem with all of these services is that you are giving up control of your private keys, so you are trusting the service not to run away with your coin, or let a hacker run away with your coin. If you are receiving interest for your deposit, the service is also obviously lending out your coin to other customers, which means you are also risking that borrowers will not repay the service in large enough quantities that the service cannot repay you.

Then don't put a lot of your coins in any of them, the risk of the amount lost is mitigated but the benefit is also lowered but in the end, the profits will speak for itself. I don't think that this websites will be vulnerable as back in the Mt. Gox days, security has been a thing and I think that this websites are definitely secure.

In the days of Mt Gox, most people creating bitcoin-related services were fairly inexperienced programmers. It was fairly common for websites to get hacked because of the lack of experience, and because programmers were making websites that would likely not get hacked if not for their relation to bitcoin.

Today, bitcoin-related services are much better built, including their security, but nothing is infallible. Today, bitcoin-related websites still experience hacks. Generally speaking, the losses in relation to total customer deposits are lower, but there is still the risk of customers loosing all their deposited money.