Are you earning dividends for your crypto holdings / bitcoin ? If not, you are missing the true essence of crypto.

Not sure if you know but you can earn interest on your crypto holdings which is similar to earning dividends from your equities like Microsoft, Boeing etc.,

So, if you have bitcoin that you bought in Coinbase or Gemini or any other exchange and if you are letting them sit in the exchange that means you are doing it wrong !. Why let your assets sit for idle instead you could earn interest and passive income against it ?.

Crypto is the new collateral ! You can borrow, lend, stake and do lot more things with crypto. All these topics come under DeFi which is nothing but a revolutionary mechanism that is being developed and in fact some DeFi protocols have been successfully operating since couple of years.

DeFi is all together a different topic which I will cover in a different article but let us jump into earning interest part of crypto.

How to earn interest from your crypto like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin etc., ?

There are 2 ways . 1) Using DeFi protocols 2) Open Finance or Centralized version of DeFi protocols

Examples of Defi Protocols include 1) Aave 2) Maker Dao 3) Compound etc., It requires a learning curve to interact with these protocols for lending crypto and earning interest.

1. To simplify, you need to hold your crypto assets primarily Ethereum for example in your hot wallets like metamask. To achieve this buy crypto in Coinbase or Gemini and transfer them to metamask. Here is the short video on how to do it.
2. Once you have your crypto in metamask wallet you could interact with any of the DeFi protocols mentioned above and lend your crypto.

Now, let’s look at other options which are centralized solutions for crypto lending. These are much easier to access just like you use Coinbase or Gemini.

1. Coinbase.

Are you surprised ?. Yes, you can earn interest for crypto that is purchased in coinbase without transferring anywhere. Currently coinbase is supporting interest or staking rewards for Tezos (~5%) , Cosmos (~5%), Algo (~6). You could earn interest on your Ethereum as well but need to lock your ethereum until launch of Ethereum 2.0 which is sometime end of this year or early next year. For others, you can withdraw or sell anytime.

Here is my referral link for coinbase if you are interested to earn $10 in bitcoin after you signup.

2. Gemini

Gemini recently launched Earn option for majority of the crypto that you can buy in Gemini. Here is the glimpse of APR for various crypto.

Here is my referral link for Gemini if you are interested to earn $10 in bitcoin by signing up.

3. BlockFi

This is not an exchange but offers crypto lending and borrowing services. Backed by major institutions and offers 8–10% on your stable coins. Your interest is paid monthly and you have option to choose how you would like your interest to be paid. Whether in kind or different coin is a possibility here.

My BlockFi referral. Earn $10.

4. Celcius

Similar to BlockFi but with wide varieties of options and interest up to 12% on your stable coins. You can start earning interest right away and you get paid every week. You can withdraw your crypto anytime but with some limitations.

My Celcius referral. Earn $40.

I would strongly advice to read the T&C of centralized lending/borrowing services like Celcius/BlockFi before lending your crypto. Note that either DeFi protocols or centralized crypto services comes with the risks. So, it is always a better idea to utilize more than 1 platform to spread your risk.

Happy Earning !!.