Best Crypto Savings Accounts to grow your portfolio while you hodl

[First published on Nov 2021, updated on 17 Jun 2022]

Growing up, my parents taught me the importance of saving money. The idea was that if I saved money, I would have enough by the time I reach adulthood.

Alas, when I grew older, I was exposed to the realities of inflation. Looking at the 0.5%p.a. interest rates on my bank account didn’t help either. (You may have access to higher interest rates if you’re saving a larger amount of money in banks, but most of them pay a maximum of 4%.)

However, things have changed. With the advent of cryptocurrency and DeFi, we now have access to cryptocurrency savings accounts that promise higher annual returns — some as much as 19.5%!

In the following sections, I’ll explore the best crypto savings accounts you can consider. Note that we will not touch on staking and other forms of DeFi yield generation protocols in this article.

Crypto is a risky asset. This article is not financial advice. Please do your own due diligence and understand the risks you’re taking on. Remember; “Not your keys, Not your coins”!

Dec 2022 update summary:

FTX turned out to be a fraud and this has delivered a heavy blow to the crypto community. Several services such as Genesis, BlockFi and Gemini have been affected.

Aug 2022 update summary:

Celsius’ recent withdrawal halt and 3AC’s subsequent overleverage woes are a cause of worry when it comes to the reliability of these centralised crypto savings accounts. Please understand your own risks before using them!

• Finblox has increased their withdrawal limits as of Jul 2022 and resumed their payouts. They are also about to launch their token, FBX in a token sale. (which likely will allow the team to cash out and give control over to their users)
• Hodlnaut has halt withdrawals, token swaps and deposits with immediate effect on 8 Aug 2022.
• DeZy has withdrew all funds from their yield protocols, but will continue to pay out rewards from their treasury. DeZy has halted its services and withdrawals since 15 Nov 2022.

Here’s the updated comparison table:

(Swipe or scroll right for more, click on the header to sort.)

Crypto Savings Accounts Comparison

Crypto Savings Account Platform	Bitcoin APY	Ethereum APY	USDT APY	DAI APY	USDC APY	UST APY	Are your funds insured?	Is there a Minimum Amount?	Withdrawal fee	Can you withdraw immediately?	Can you compound your yields?
Finblox	4%	4.3%	3.9%	5%	4.3%	-	Yes, by their custody provider	No	No, but blockchain transaction fees apply	No minimum hold period	Daily
Hodlnaut	4.08% (from 1 Jul 22)	4.6% (from 1 Jul 22)	7% (from 1 Jul 22)	3.56% (from 1 Jul 22)	7% (from 1 Jul 22)	-	No, but you can apply for Nexus insurance	No	Yes, varies with coin	No minimum hold period	Weekly (done manually)
YouHodler	4.7%	5.5%	10.7%	10.3%	10.3%	-	Yes	Yes, USD100 equivalent	Yes Bank wire: USD (SWIFT) - 1.5% (min 70 USD) or varies with coin	7 days settlement period	Weekly
Tokenize Exchange	2%	2%	6%	6%	6%	-	No	Yes, depends on coin	Yes, 0.02%	Minimum 30 days, can only withdraw on 2 - 8th of every month	Monthly, under Compound Yield
Dezy (Deposit in SGD)	-	-	5.65%*	5.65%*	5.65%*	-	No	$200	No	No minimum hold period	No
CakeDeFi	5%	5%	6.5%	-	6.5%	-	Yes	No	Yes, varies with coin	4 weeks holding period, lending is ran by batches	Monthly (done manually)
Gemini	1.01%	1.26%	-	5.31%	5.31%	-	Yes	No	No	Up to 5 days to return funds if volume is high	Daily (done manually)
nexo	4%	4%	8%	8%	8%	-	Yes	No	1 free withdrawal per month	No minimum hold period	Daily
Crypto.com	0.5%	0.5%	1.5%	1.5%	1.5%	-	Yes	Yes, depends on coin	Yes	No minimum hold period	Weekly (done manually, you need to meet min deposit requirements)
Yearn.Finance (dApp)	-	1.63%	4.27%	4.80%	-	-	No, but they run a security protocol	No	No, but there's a 20% performance fee and 2% management fee	No minimum hold period	Auto
AQRU (KYC not available for SG yet)	7%	7%	12%	12%	12%	-	Yes	No	$20 on crypto withdrawal, free for fiat withdrawal	No minimum hold period	Daily
Vauld Paused trading, withdrawals and deposits.	-	-	-	-	-	-	Their lending pool is insured up to $100M, and may set up a dedicated insurance fund in future.	No	No, but blockchain transaction fees apply	1 month holding period for Fixed Deposits which give higher rates	Daily (Savings) Monthly (Fixed Deposit)
Celsius Halted withdrawals	-	-	-	-	-	-	Yes, via their custodian Fireblocks	No	No	No minimum hold period	Weekly

What are Crypto Savings Accounts?

Cryptocurrency savings accounts work like traditional bank accounts. You deposit your money into the account, receive interest and enjoy liquidity on your money.

Traditional Savings Account vs Crypto Savings Account

	Traditional Savings Account	Crypto Savings Account
Deposit	Fiat	Crypto
Yield	0.5 – 4%	1 – 13%
Liquidity	high	high
Market Risk	Lower	Higher (assuming higher volatility)
Regulations	Governments usually regulate banks	Not every crypto savings account is regulated
Insurance:	In Singapore, up to $75,000 of our deposit in each bank is protected by the Deposit Insurance Scheme	Not every crypto savings platform insures your deposit

So, why do banks pay you interest?

Well, typically, banks will lend your ‘stored’ money. In exchange for using your money, they then share a tiny portion of the profits with you. Crypto savings accounts function in the same way. Hence, they may also be referred to as crypto lending accounts.

Best Crypto Savings Accounts for Bitcoin

Finblox (up to 5.75% APY)

Update. As of 16th Jun 2022, Finblox seems to be affected by 3Arrow Capital’s liquidation event and have:

• Pause reward distributions on the Finblox platform for all users
• Change withdrawal limits (500 USD equivalent per day, up to a maximum of 1500 USD equivalent per month) for all levels of users
• Delay referral program and deposit rewards
• Disable creation of crypto addresses for newly registered users

Finblox currently provides the highest savings rates on Bitcoin. If you plan to buy and hodl Bitcoin, it could let you grow your Bitcoins while you ride the price growth and volatility.

Finblox is a Hong Kong-based crypto savings app that has teams operating from Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia. It is relatively young, having launched in May 2021 but is being backed by some notable VCs in the crypto space like Sequoia Capital, Dragonfly Capital and Three Arrows Capital.

Cryptocurrencies offered

At the point of update, they offer yields on ~25 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Near and stablecoins like USDT, USDC, DAI and even XSGD.

No holding period

Interest is compounded and paid daily, and there is no minimum holding period, which means you can withdraw whenever you need your money.

However, your daily withdrawal limit would depend on your KYC verification status – at basic level, your daily withdrawal limit is $1,000. You can withdraw up to $50,000 daily once you have fully verified your account.

No Fees

Finblox doesn’t charge any platform or withdrawal fees. Gas fees or blockchain transaction fees still apply.

Cannot fund using fiat currency nor buy crypto directly

Like Hodlnaut, Finblox isn’t an exchange, so you are not able to purchase coins from them directly. This means you need to manually deposit your coins from a cryptocurrency exchange.

Funds protected via custodian

Funds on Finblox are protected and insured for up to $45M through Fireblocks, a digital asset custody. Finblox also goes an extra step with encryption and fraud prevention provided by Coincover.

KYC is fast

To unlock higher daily withdrawal limits, you’ll need to verify your account. On Finblox, the verification process is almost instantaneous – you can get verified once you have submitted the required documentation via the app.

Easy to get started: Unlock higher interest in 2 steps

It is easy to start earning yields on Finblox. All you need to do is to download the app (Andriod and iOS) here, follow the instructions to sign up an account and you can start depositing crypto for yields.

With an account, you can start earning higher interest in just two steps:

1. Buy crypto on Gemini (or your favorite crypto exchange)
2. Transfer it to your Finblox address

If you’re located in Singapore, the new travel rule requires you to whitelist wallet addresses, so this may take a couple of days.

No webapp

The only downside to Finblox is that it doesn’t have a webapp – you’ll only be able to access your account via the mobile app.

You can sign up for a Finblox account here (referral link + get free 250 usdc).

Hodlnaut (up to 5.33% APY)

Hodlnaut has been dethrone by a new player. You can check Hodlnaut’s latest interest rates here.

Hodlnaut is a Singapore-based platform created to help hodlers get the most out of their cryptocurrencies.

They have an office in Singapore and Hong Kong, and have received an exemption from the Payment Services Act by MAS. This means they are exempted from holding a license while MAS figures out how to regulate crypto companies.

In simple terms, this means you don’t have to worry about them being banned like Binance.com was recently.

Cryptocurrencies offered

Hodlnaut only offers yields on six cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dai, USDC, USDT, and WBTC.

No holding period

There is no holding period, and interest is paid out weekly. So, if you need to withdraw your coins to buy a cool looking NFT, you can do so anytime.

Cannot fund using fiat currency nor buy crypto directly

Hodlnaut isn’t an exchange, so you are not able to purchase coins from them directly. This means you need to manually deposit your coins from a cryptocurrency exchange.

You could use an exchange like Gemini (which comes with free withdrawals) to buy the coins, then transfer them to Hodlnaut.

Withdrawal fees + no direct fiat withdrawal

Do note that Hodlnaut charges withdrawal fees based on the coin:

At the point of writing, S$100 is about 0.0017BTC. If you were to withdraw 0.0017BTC, the transaction cost would be 23%!

That said, you do get 1 free withdrawal per month, which should be sufficient for hodlers.

You cannot immediately withdraw your holdings into fiat cash either. Instead, you’ll need to withdraw your holdings to an exchange and cash it out from there.

Insurance is optional

Hodlnaut doesn’t insure a client’s cryptocurrencies directly. However, you can choose to purchase a Nexus insurance to protect your funds in the event that Hodlnaut gets hacked or if they halt withdrawals for more than 90 days.

Easy to get started

The main draw of Hodlnaut in my opinion is that you can start earning higher interest in just two steps:

1. Buy crypto on Gemini (or your favorite crypto exchange)
2. Transfer it to your Hodlnaut address

Once the transfer is successful, you’ll start accruing interest. And with the 1x free monthly withdrawal, you can send your crypto out to any exchange and cash out from there. Easy way to start earning yields.

Do note that Hodlnaut says their KYC process takes 3 to 5 working days. But in my experience, it took about seven working days, so you might need to be patient.

You can sign up for a Hodlnaut account here (referral link).

Update: As of 15 Mar 22, Hodlnaut has received In-Principle Approval (IPA) from MAS, though its only limited to their Token Swap feature for now.

🔊 OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Hodlnaut has received an in-principle approval (IPA) letter for a Major Payment Institution License in Singapore from the @MAS_sg under the Payment Services Act (PS Act).

1/ pic.twitter.com/yGQQ64aLbC

— Hodlnaut (@hodlnautdotcom) March 15, 2022

Best Crypto Savings Accounts for Ethereum

Finblox (up to 5.75% APY)

Once again, Finblox tops this category with 5.75% APY on Ethereum.

Worthy mention: YouHodler (up to 5.50% APY)

Youhodler is another cryptocurrency lending platform that lets users borrow up to a 90% loan-to-value ratio.

They are offering up to 12.3% APY on USDT at the point of writing. You can check their latest interest rates here.

Cryptocurrencies offered

You can earn interest on 39 cryptocurrencies on Youhodler.

It doesn’t accept SGD directly

YouHodler doesn’t accept Singapore dollars.

To buy cryptocurrencies within the Youhodler platform, you can do a bank transfer. At this point, they only accept USD, EUR, GPB, and CHF. Fees may apply.

If the APYs attract you, you may find it easier (and possibly cheaper) to buy cryptocurrency from Gemini before transferring it over.

Withdrawing fees

Likewise, you can withdraw your holdings into fiat using bank wire. Alternatively, you could also transfer your crypto to another wallet or exchange. The fees vary for each coin and are not shared publicly.

Funds are insured with Ledger Vault

YouHodler has insurance coverage by Ledger Vault of up to $150m. All their funds are stored in a mix of hot and cold wallet storage.

Worthy mention: Hodlnaut (up to 5.44% APY)

Hodlnaut used to provide the highest yield on ethereum with up to 7.46% APY. But as of 2022, has revised it yields to 5.44%:

Best Crypto Savings Accounts for Stablecoins

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose prices are tied to real-world assets. Because of this, they are able to maintain a stable value. Some examples include Tether (aka USDT), USDC by Circle, and Dai.

Many platforms offer savings/lending services on stablecoins, and these offer the best yields:

Best yields on Tether (USDT), USDC and DAI: Finblox (up to 15%)

Finblox tops the list in terms of stablecoin yields with 15% 12% APY on USDT, USDC and DAI:

Notes on PockeTwo (from 14%, only on USDT)

If you’re looking for yields only on USDT, PockeTwo is a savings platform that provides yield on your USDT deposits. They will take your USD, use it to generate yields on a range of DeFi protocols and give you 14% APY.

PockeTwo is a Singapore startup founded in September 2021 and is supported by Enterprise Singapore and Singapore FinTech Association.

[Updated: 1st June] It seems their initial strategy relies heavily on the original Anchor protocol, taking at least 5% cut from the Anchor rates. Here’s their update since the UST-Luna crash. I would stay clear from them for the time being.

Deposits in TRC20 or BSC only

You can only deposit funds via TRC20 (Tron Blockchain) or BSC (Binance Smart Chain). This is probably done to avoid the high gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain. However, this means you are not able to use Gemini to fund your PockeTwo wallet. You can either purchase crypto via Xanpool or transfer your crypto from an exchange like Kucoin which allows you to move crypto using BSC.

Free withdrawal with PayNow option

They do not charge a withdrawal fee and allow you to withdraw your funds straight into your bank account via PayNow.

Overreliance on UST and LUNA for yields?

Based on their articles, it seems that PockeTwo relied heavily on Anchor protocol to generate yields. On 1st April 2022, they have also launched a fixed deposit produce that provides 18.8% APY. This product relies on the Mirror Protocol which was built on the Terra ecosystem.

Do note that at the point of update, they are not accepting deposits due to the UST-LUNA crash.

Worthy Mention: YouHodler (from 12%)

Youhodler is now the best crypto savings account for stablecoins, offering 12.3% APY on USDT and 12% on USDC and Dai.

Best yield on TerraUSD (aka UST): Anchor (17.94%)

[At the point of update, UST has depegged and LUNA has crashed. Anchor is not longer a viable option.]

You can read more about what happened here.

Risks + You may want to avoid: Fulcrum

Fulcrum is a DeFi app for lending and margin trading. It runs on the bZx protocol and allows users to lend their cryptocurrencies on the Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Polygon blockchains.

Although Fulcrum asserts that it is safe to use, there were a couple of red flags.

WHY IS IT NOT IN YOUR SUMMARY TABLE?!

Fulcrum’s rates can be enticing and they can probably deliver their marketed APYs. According to DeFi Pulse, the bZx protocol has about US$24M valued locked in.

The problem doesn’t lie in whether or not they can fulfill their promised interest. Instead, it lies in the protocol’s vulnerabilities.

Vulnerabilities

• 22 Feb 2020 – bZx lost $945,000 in two flash loan attacks.
• 14 Sep 2021 – bZx lost $8M inan a attack through a bug in code.
• 5 Nov 2021 – $55M was stolen from bZx after their private key was compromised.

Usually, when a protocol or dApp gets hacked once, users are still comfortable enough to give it a second chance. This is because the team would be on high alert, and they would put more effort into beefing up their security.

Sadly, I can’t say the same for this project. It is really suay (or maybe the team just doesn’t care), as it has lost quite a bit of money from multiple ‘hacks.’

You could use their protocol to chase after the high yields. However, do note that this is a very high-risk play. And given the growth of DeFi, there would be dApps similar to Fulcrum; that is, platforms that bring high yields along with high risk.

As such, remember to always do your own research before putting your hard earn money in!

Crypto exchanges with good savings yields

The yields above certainly look attractive. Nonetheless, some may find it too troublesome to have to transfer coins. Others may also be worried that they might forget where they parked their assets, considering that there are many wallets and accounts to deal with.

If that’s you, then I have some good news for you. Your crypto exchange, whatever it may be, probably offers an ‘Earn’ or ‘Savings’ program within its interface too. If you’re lazy, you can simply deposit, buy, and hold your fiat and cryptocurrencies in that single platform.

Tokenize Exchange

7% 5%APYs on Bitcoin and Ethereum and 12% 10% on stablecoins like Dai, USDT and USDC

Tokenize Exchange has its headquarters in Singapore. It is exempt from the MAS PS Act under its holding company, Amazingtech Pte Ltd. As its name suggests, it is a crypto exchange as well.

Cryptocurrencies offered

Under its Crypto Earn service, you can earn yields with 47 cryptocurrencies:

Do note that there is a minimum holding period of 30 days, as well as a varying minimum amount required for each cryptocurrency. You can unlock higher yields and flexible deposit periods by staking TKX, Tokenize Exchange’s own tokens.

Staking TKX also comes with other membership perks that are beyond the scope of this article.

Withdrawal fees apply

You’ll have to pay a withdrawal fee when you move your cryptocurrencies off the Tokenize Exchange platform. These fees vary with the type of cryptocurrency, so you can check this list for the latest fees and withdrawal limits.

Funds are not insured

Your funds are not insured, but Tokenize states that “client funds are structured to be at the top of the capital stack and Tokenize would take a loss before any client would.”

If you are not comfortable with the risk of having funds stuck for a month and the inability to withdraw in case of a black swan event, Tokenize’s higher yields may not be for you.

You can deposit SGD from your bank

It is quite expensive to fund and trade with SGD on Tokenize. For most users in the ‘normal’ tier, you’ll need to fund your account via Xfer. There’s a 0.55% fee attached to every deposit.

Premium (costs 160 TKX*) and Platinum (costs 800TKX + stake 800 TKX) members can deposit SGD directly from a bank for free. Alternatively, you can fund your account in USD for free.

Trading fees are a little high

If you’re a normal tier user, the trading fee for fiat-to-crypto trades are 0.8% while the crypto-to-crypto trades are 0.25%. You may want to use an exchange like Gemini to buy and transfer stablecoins over to Tokenize instead.

That said, their saving rates are the highest at the point of writing and they have been exempted from the PS Act. Hence, I would use my Tokenize Exchange account to hodl most of my Ethereum.

If it doesn’t sound like too much work, you can sign up for an account here.

Atom Asset Exchange (AAX)

has been liquidated

4% APYs on Bitcoin and Ethereum and 2.5-6.5% on stablecoins like Dai, USDT and USDC

Update: AAX also offers 6.5% APY on UST now.

AAX is a Hong Kong-based platform powered by the London Stock Exchange Group’s Millennium Exchange matching engine. If you feel more secure knowing that it partners with an existing stock exchange, this is a plus factor. If you don’t like the idea that it is linked to TradFi, then this could be a negative factor.

AAX is exempted from holding a licence under MAS’ PS Act.

Cryptocurrencies offered

AAX’s Savings service offers both flexible savings and fixed deposits, with varying returns. They offer saving options on over 100+ coins, including $PSG and $SHIB.

At the point of writing, they have promotions on their fixed savings. These work like fixed deposit plans, so do take note of the minimum subscription and lock-up duration:

Not insured, but complies with “Cryptocurrency Security Standard (CCSS)”

According to AAX, security is a top priority. Most of their digital assets are supposedly held in secure offline storage facilities.

Cannot deposit SGD

At the point of writing, users cannpt deposit fiat SGD into AAX.com directly. Instead, you can send cryptocurrency to the address under your account.

Withdrawal fees

AAX.com charges a withdrawal fee that varies with each coin.

Side note: it seems we don’t need to do KYC on AAX if we only intend to deposit, transfer, and withdraw below 1BTC.

Gemini

1% APY on Bitcoin, 2.05% 1.26% APY on Ethereum, and 6.4 – 6.9% APY on stablecoins like USDC, Dai and UST

Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange that we have recommended. It is exempted from holding a licence under MAS’ PS Act.

If you’re already using Gemini, you can immediately start earning interest on your crypto with their lending program, Gemini Earn.

You can earn interest with over 40 cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and even Axie Infinity, as well as on stablecoins like TerraUSD and Dai.

No minimum deposit amount or holding periods

There is no minimum amount nor time period enforced. Your interest is paid daily, starting with the day after you’ve moved your coins into Earn.

Fees are already reflected in APY

Gemini takes an agent fee on the loans before paying you. Hence, the APYs reflected is the amount you will be earning (do note that these may fluctuate depending on market demands).

This means what you see is what you get.

At the time of writing, their rates for BTC and ETH are between 1-2% and up to 6.9% APY with stablecoins like Dai and Gemini Dollar. You can check the latest Gemini Earn rates here.

Do note that Gemini Earn is only available in the United States, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Easy to allocate and withdraw

With just a few taps, you can allocate your coins to Gemini Earn by using your Gemini mobile app or account.

To withdraw fiat SGD, simply sell your coins, then initiate a withdrawal. You can use FAST to withdraw your cash, which takes a day to process. Just be mindful that there is a cap of S$20,000 per withdrawal from Gemini.

Gemini Earn Funds are insured by third-party partners

Gemini has placed an importance on its security. It insures its customers’ funds through its Digital Asset Insurance, and also holds users’ cryptos in a cold storage custody.

But take note that funds under the Gemini Earn program are not insured by Gemini. Instead, they are held by third-party partners.

Currently, Genesis is the main partner for Gemini Earn. It is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, and it claims to insure all the cryptocurrencies that are under its custody.

Nexo

4% APYs on Bitcoin and Ethereum and 8% on stablecoins like Dai and USDC

Update: Nexo now offers 11% APY on UST.

Touted as the largest crypto lender, Nexo was launched in 2018. It also has an exchange from which you can buy and sell crypto. Its UI is pretty easy to navigate.

Although it offers better rates among exchanges, Nexo is NOT exempted from holding a licence under MAS’ PS Act.

This means that while we still have access to Nexo, we face the risk of having to shift assets if the platform is forced to stop serving Singapore users in the future. After all, this is happened to Binance.com and Huobi Global uers.

Cryptocurrencies offered

Nexo allows users to earn interest from 24 cryptocurrencies.

Higher yields and other perks with their loyalty program

Nexo seems to be building a loyalty-based ecosystem. Users are granted loyalty tiers based on the amount of NEXO Tokens held.

You will be rewarded with perks like free withdrawals and better yields based on your loyalty tier.

At the lowest tier, you can earn 4% on your Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings:

You can also earn 8% on stablecoins:

Opting to earn using NEXO tokens unlocks an additional 2% yield. However, you should note that NEXO tokens are not stablecoins, which means you will be exposed to further volatility.

If you want to chase higher yields, you can try to find a comfortable balance between the risk and reward of holding NEXO.

Your holdings are insured

Nexo stores its clients’ assets with BitGo, an insured qualified custodian. It insures against commercial crime for up to USD100M. It is also working with Ledger to insure assets up to USD375M.

Free Withdrawal (fiat)

Nexo mentions that it follows a #ZeroFees policy. This means that users can “make unlimited free-of-charge fiat withdrawals, crypto, and fiat transfers into their Nexo Wallet.”

All users are also entitled to one free crypto withdrawal per month. You can get more of this by holding the NEXO token (more on this below).

That said, there are three things to note:

1. You can only sell crypto for USD, EUR and GBP via Nexo’s exchange.
2. There is a minimum withdrawal amount that varies for each coin.
3. There is a maximum withdrawal amount depending on your loyalty tier.

Crypto.com

1.5% APY on Bitcoin, 3.5% APY on Ethereum, and 6% on stablecoins like Dai, USDT and USDC

Crypto.com is another crypto exchange that is exempted from holding a license under MAS’ PS Act. Like others that were mentioned in this article, it has a service that lets its users earn interest on their coins.

Although it claims to provide up to 14.5% on its main page, actual yields are lower if you don’t plan on holding many CRO tokens. You can check the latest APYs that Crypto.com Earn offers here.

For even higher yields, you can choose to stake Crypto.com Coins (CRO). Stakers can also enjoy benefits on Crypto.com’s VISA card. It grants you a free Spotify subscription for staking USD400 worth of CRO.

Although similar in concept, staking is a whole other can of worms that should be covered in a separate article.

You may be able to get higher yields by fulfilling certain criteria on Crypto.com. However, I personally feel like it’s too much work. Plus, I don’t like the idea of having to stake USD400 in CRO to unlock higher yields.

Minimum deposit amount

There’s a minimum deposit required. This threshold depends on the coin you’re depositing into Crypto.com Earn. You can refer to the full list here.

At the time of writing, you need about $500 worth of BTC or $950 worth of ETH to start earning on Crypto.com.

Your deposit will earn interest in the same currency, and yields will be deposited into your crypto wallet every seven days.

Funds are insured

Crypto.com has an insurance fund that is said to cover all uncovered losses.

Furthermore, they hold the cryptocurrencies of all their users in a cold storage powered by Ledger Vault, which is secured by a USD750M cold storage insurance. In theory, this would reduce the risk of losing your cryptocurrencies to hacks and third party theft.

Crypto Savings Account that gives 5.6% without having to buy cryptocurrency?

Suppose you want to beat the average yield of a traditional bank savings account, but don’t want to buy cryptocurrencies directly.

What if there’re platforms that let you deposit your fiat SGD, do all the work for you and lets you earn higher interest at the same time? Let’s explore an option and your potential risks:

DeZy

If all the aforementioned options are too complicated for you, DeZy is a good way to start growing your money while you learn about crypto and DeFi yields. (But, they give you $10 just for signing up and verifying your account. #freemoney)

What is DeZy?

DeZy allows users to grow their money at an annual percentage yield of 5% 5.65%.

Dezy seems to be one of the few platforms that increased their APY.

The main draw to using DeZy is its simplicity. You can deposit Singapore Dollars directly through PayNow and immediately start earning 5% APY. There is no need to buy cryptocurrencies nor understand the underlying DeFi protocols.

The platform is created for the non-crypto audience, so the process to start is simple:

1. Sign up for a DeZy account.
2. Complete the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process by providing your IC, Proof of Address, and a video.
3. Deposit a minimum of S$200 via PayNow to start.

How does it work?

On the backend, DeZy will take your fiat SGD and convert it into a pool of stablecoins via Xanpool. Then, it will generate a stable yield by deploying the stablecoins through various DeFi protocols.

These transactions are said to be processed using “automation and programmatic processes,” and DeZy aims to provide a stable yield of 5.65% APY over the long term. At the time of writing, the interest level is at 5% 55%.

DeZy mentions the use of DeFi protocols like Unagii, Vauld, and Orion on its FAQ page.

Key Risks

DeZy sounds like a great platform to start with, but there are a few issues that may be a cause for concern.

i) Lack of MAS license or PS Act exemption

First, DeZy is not exempted in the PS Act. According to their FAQ, they do not handle the custody of your funds; instead, the funds are distributed across DeFi protocols.

To me, this is a major risk you must note because they could shut down their website anytime and users would not be able to get their funds back. I raised this concern in their Discord and was referred to this article where they state that “your funds are still present and recoverable on the blockchain. Through our on-boarding partners and through the security of the blockchain, your funds would still be technically retrievable.”

ii) Credibility

Secondly, although their business is registered in Singapore, there is a lack of coverage about the project and the team. There are also little reviews online about the platform. All we know is that DeZy’s co-founder and CEO, Eric Dadoun, is a founding Partner at Impiro, a Singapore based VC fund that is backing DeZy.

That said, DeZy is a relatively young company (it was founded in May 2021) and they might still be in the process of building up their brand.

Their CEO Eric Dadoun answered questions regarding the risk of using DeZy in his recent interview with Yield Labs (from 1:01:01 onwards):

In the interview, he mentions a few key takeaways that you should note before considering DeZy:

1. There is no insurance. But, there are deposit limits to help consumers reduce their exposure.
2. Insurance is on their product growth map.
3. Currently, they are mitigating risks by diversifying across well backed DeFi protocols like Unagii, Vauld and Orion.
4. You should not use the platform if you are not comfortable with the risk.

Convenience comes with a price

I think that the risk is reasonable if DeZy allows you to grow your money faster than traditional banks. You may not understand how it works under the hood, but for a 5.25% APY, it seems like a fair price to pay.

However, you may think that it’s not worth the risk. After all, DeZy’s APY is still lower than the other platforms we looked at in this article. If so, then I would encourage you to learn more about DeFi.

More thoughts

I’ve put a small sum into DeZy since writing this piece in 2021, their team has been transparent, quick to react to market events and even raised their APY since this piece was first published.

At the point of update, they have taken the safe option of withdrawing their funds from all yield protocols to keep our money safe. And they’ll continue to pay out the 5.65% from their treasury.

That said, in the current environment where SSBs are offering 2.71%, you might be more comfortable with slightly lower yields provided by safer options.

Outlet Finance

Similar to DeZy, Outlet Finance allows users to deposit fiat cash and grow their money at higher yields.

But unlike DeZy, Outlet Finance has several (good) reviews on Trustpilot, and they have a smart contract insurance by Nexus Mutual. They have also launched a debit card for US users on Luna.

Unfortunately, it is not available for Singapore users yet.

Risks of using Crypto Savings Accounts

There’s no free lunch. Although the yields of crypto savings accounts are highly attractive, they come with considerable risks.

1) Not fully regulated

Cryptocurrency is a new frontier. While governments are still wrapping their heads around the concept and figuring out ways for fiat currencies and markets to co-exist with cryptocurrencies, regulations remain relatively loose.

This also means that:

2) Not protected by government insurance

In Singapore, up to $75,000 of your deposit in each bank is protected by the Deposit Insurance Scheme. However, not every crypto savings platform provides insurance on your deposits.

The platform risk is very real. There has been a history of platform hacks like the infamous Mt Gox hack. Do keep in mind that you are taking on the risk of losing your deposits in the case of such hacks.

If you value security over yield, read our guide on crypto hardware wallets instead.

3) Liquidity

Depending on the platform you use, you may not have the liquidity that bank savings accounts can give you.

On platforms like Nexo and protocols like Yearn Finance, there are lock-up periods where you would not be able to withdraw your coins in exchange for higher yields.

Meanwhile, withdrawals on platforms like Gemini and Youhodler might take a few days. This leads to the next risk:

4) Price volatility

While earning higher yields, your crypto portfolio remains susceptible to market volatility. For example, earning 7% on Bitcoin during a bear market may be uncomfortable for you, given that there had just been a price drop of 40%. That said, if you’re planning to hodl for the long term, you should be mentally prepared for this risk.

Now, price volatility doesn’t apply if you’re capturing yields using stablecoins. However, stablecoins do come with their own set of risks:

5) The value of stablecoins may be debatable

Although stablecoins provide a range of utility across various protocols, their underlying value remains debatable.

Koning suggests that stablecoins are like loans. You lend them to stablecoin entities like Tether and Circle (behind USDC), and as it is with any credit, there is a possibility that you would never get your principal back.

The best crypto savings accounts [Summary]

Time is money. In summary,

• Best crypto savings accounts for Bitcoin: *Finblox (5.75%), Hodlnaut (5.33%)
• Best crypto savings accounts for Ethereum: *Finblox (5.75%), Youhodler (5.3%)
• Best crypto savings accounts for stablecoins USDT, USDC, Dai: Finblox (12%)
• If you want to avoid transferring your crypto around, consider exchanges with good saving yields: Tokenize Exchange and AAX
• If you don’t want to buy crypto but still want higher yields: DeZy (5.65% on your SGD)

*Do note that Finblox has paused their rewards temporarily.

The information is accurate at the point of writing, but you should check for the latest rates before deciding if this is for you.

Also, you might want to consider diversifying across crypto savings platform in case any of them goes down or gets compromised.

What am I using?

I like to keep things simple. I do not earn on my Bitcoin, instead opting to store it in a hardware wallet like Ledger.

Meanwhile, I earn yields on stablecoins in Hodlnaut and am testing Finblox (it’s relatively new, do your own due diligence), stablecoins like UST via Anchor and for altcoins with smaller positions, I just use Gemini Earn. (update: in view of the current issues with the market, I have withdrawn all ETH from Hodlnaut and a significant chunk of stablecoins from Finblox)

And since I’m lazy, I tend to avoid platforms with convoluted reward tiers or those that require me to hold the platform’s native coins. If you don’t mind putting in the extra effort and taking up a little more risk, you could consider unlocking higher yields on platforms like Nexo.

The best crypto savings account for you is the one that suits your risk appetite and convenience. Remember that there are risks involved, so do your own research and only use money you can afford to lose.