The Cryptocurrency APYs Shaming Brick & Mortar Banking

As cryptocurrencies continue to gain traction, the underlying decentralized and autonomous systems are creating second-order effects reshaping the broader financial landscape.

The evolution of blockchain technology has accelerated digital transformation, unlocking innumerable global investment opportunities and financial services, many of which were previously inaccessible, especially for people residing in third-world countries.

With over 1,800 unique cryptocurrencies and counting, the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem has emerged as one of the most dominant sectors within the blockchain universe, offering the global population an opportunity to invest in the future of finance. DeFi products supported via public blockchains enable greater accessibility and transparency, making it a preferred choice for many.

Among the recently launched initiatives, crypto-centric platforms like CoinZoom, Rocket Vault, hi, and AAX, and others are spearheading efforts to introduce novel yield opportunities for users who until now have relied on trading as the only way to grow their digital portfolios.

As savings rates on traditional interest-bearing bank accounts dip to rock bottom, crypto saving accounts have emerged as a viable option for users seeking to put idle digital assets to work.

Leading the plethora of savings solutions, AAX, one of the most prominent crypto exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region, is offering up to 60% APY for BTC, ETH, and USDT. Besides this promotional offer, AAX also offers flexible and savings products with up to 20% APY for over 80 different cryptocurrencies.

AAX is the world's first cryptocurrency exchange powered by LSEG’s Millennium Exchange technology, the same robust architecture behind the London Stock Exchange’s operations. It is also the first crypto platform to be a part of the London Stock Exchange Group's (LSEG) Partner Platform.

CoinZoom is another crypto exchange currently offering outstanding APYs on over 40 cryptocurrencies and USD deposits. As one of the largest and highly-regulated exchanges serving over 192 countries and regions, CoinZoom, via its CoinZoom Earn feature, offers up to 10% APY to its ordinary users and up to an additional 20% bonus interest to its preferred VIP customers.

Compared to other crypto savings accounts, there are no long-term commitments with CoinZoom. The interest on the savings is accumulated daily and credited to customer accounts on the seventh day of each month. Additionally, users have the flexibility to re-invest interest in their CoinZoom trading account or spend it via CoinZoom Visa cards to earn additional cashback and rewards paid in ZOOM tokens.

When it comes to lucrative APYs, hi, the not-for-profit financial services platform, also deserves mention. Founded in 2021, hi has just launched its Earnings feature for the members of its community. With the launch of Earnings, hi members can earn up to 40% APY plus yield options on several cryptocurrencies and stablecoins like USDT.

hi Earnings is a free-to-use feature, allowing all community members to stake their tokens to earn additional returns. There are no hidden fees, and the feature will support a myriad of tokens such as BTC, ETH, LTC, DOGE, BNB, USDT, USDC, and more. Additionally, the deposit timelines are flexible, while yields vary by a member’s selected deposit period, ranging between a week to one year. The interest generated will be paid in hi Dollars, and customers can choose the payout time, be it daily or at the end of the term.

Gluwa is another unique investment opportunity for crypto HODLers. San Francisco-based financial platform Gluwa offers a range of crypto-centric products like a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet, an exchange platform, and high-yielding interest-bearing accounts.

For instance, Gluwa Invest offers its users three different crypto investment products to choose from; Bond, Savings, and Prize-Linked Savings Account. Each of these products offers different benefits based on a user’s individual needs. By investing in the Bond Account, customers can earn up to 12% APY on stablecoin deposits for a fixed period of three months. The Savings account offers a fixed APY of 5%, and users can withdraw at any time. Finally, the Prize-Linked Savings Account helps users to earn daily interest of 4% APY without any fixed period for deposits.

There is no denying that investing in cryptocurrencies has generated huge returns over the last few years. However, the crypto market is notoriously volatile, making it a high-risk investment portfolio, hindering a significant amount of people from entering the crypto ecosystem.

This is where platforms like Rocket Vault come into the picture, simplifying the entire process of investing all while dramatically lowering crypto’s entry barriers. As a platform, Rocket Vault allows customers to trade any token listed on any exchange without the need to register on multiple exchanges. By aggregating the liquidity across CEXs and DEXs, Rocket Vault allows cross-chain swaps.

Via artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, Rocket Vault's automated Smart Vault monitors hundreds of cryptocurrency assets across global exchanges such as Binance and Uniswap to identify tokens that have the potential of higher returns while offering low risks. It continually rebalances invested funds, taking optimal profits, which are paid out each quarter in stablecoins. The Smart Vault team states that investors can expect 100% APY on average based on tests conducted.

Staking is another excellent option to earn additional returns on crypto holdings that would otherwise be sitting idle in your digital wallet. Qtum, an open-source blockchain platform offering the best of both Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, is taking the concept of staking to a whole new level with the introduction of offline staking.

Initially, customers needed to run the official Qtum Core wallet and host an accompanying copy of the blockchain on their computer or server with round-the-clock uptime to stake QTUM. Yet, with offline staking, customers don't even need to be online, and instead, they can delegate their coins to a ‘Super Staker’ and earn rewards for the same. As of now, Qtum’s offline staking program offers up to 16% APY to its users just for staking their coins.

With DeFi emerging as a genuine avenue to generate returns outside of trading and appreciation of underlying tokens, users have more numerous opportunities than ever to maximize the value of crypto assets they already own.

Between high-yield crypto savings accounts and other innovative solutions, DeFi is playing a critical role in shaping future adoption amongst broader populations. Meanwhile, users already HODLing a substantial amount should consider leveraging the platforms mentioned above to amplify their crypto returns in kind.